An Enemy Within
by GSR4ever87
Summary: When one of their own turns on them, is anybody safe? 6th in Starting Over Series.
1. The start of another day

Disclaimer: I don't own the main characters.

Summary: When one of their own turns on them, is anybody safe? 6th in Starting Over Series.

AN: Hey everybody, I am back with another installment in the series. I hope you have been wanting for another one. Thanks for your patience while letting me figure out where to go next with these characters. Also, I want to remind you that is part of a series so it would be best to read the others if you haven't or need a refresher.

Title: An Enemy Within  
Genre: Drama, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Friendships, Family  
Rating: T  
Spoilers: None  
Time-line: 6 months after last story ended  
Warnings: Intense moments, maybe a few questionable words, Implied/Suggestive adult behavior  
Main Parings: GSR  
Minor Parings: YoBling (Warrick/Catherine), CBR (Carly/Brett Romance), Nick/Diana and Greg/Morgan (Both couples have a brief, but special appearance)  
Other Characters: OC's, Grissom children, Bolden 'children', Brown children  
Series Order: Starting Over, Going to Miami, Where to go from here?, More than meets the eye, When you least expect it

* * *

Chapter 1: The start of another day

May 15, 2015

Laying in the comfort of their bed, Grissom pulls back from the passionate kiss he had been sharing with his wife, and Sara took a breath before smiling as she cupped his bearded cheek. "Well, good morning to you too, Dr. Grissom. You must of woken up on the right side of the bed."

Grissom smiled with his blue eyes sparkling. "How can I not when I get to wake up next to the most beautiful woman in the world." Even though she's been hearing him say those words for well over ten years now, it still made her feel a little shy hearing it, so she smiled shyly as he chuckled slightly and continued with love in his eyes. "You can get shy all you want, I'll never think otherwise or tell you any differently, no matter how much time has passed us by."

She moves her body upwards so she could move her head closer to her husband's as she whispers. "I believe you, and that's what makes me feel like the luckiest woman in the world."

Before he could speak, her lips were on his for a kiss, which got to be pretty passionate rather quickly as they moved so she was now on top of him. She pulls back slowly after a few moments and opened her eyes, which as their eyes connected, the desire/love was shown.

He moved his hand up to her cheek, ran his thumb up and down it with a smile on his face, saying the words with his eyes, she smiled in return, saying the same words back before pressing her lips to his again, getting lost in the moment, knowing they still had time before they had to get ready for the day.

* * *

"Warrick!"

Catherine gasps as she sits up in bed with a start, and a second later, jumps when she feels a hand land on her shoulder.

"Babe, it's me."

She nodded as she turned her head to look at her husband, then a moment later, he wraps his arms around her and brings her close, which she held on to him tight right away, wanting to hear his steady heartbeat in her ear as hers raced from the nightmare she had just woken up from.

Once they were both settled, he kissed the top of her head and whispered. "How did it happen this time?"

Still trying to calm her racing heart, she took a breath and replied softly. "A car accident."

About four years after Warrick left Vegas to follow her to Miami, and around this time of the month, she had gotten nightmares that something bad happened to him. Not that she didn't get nightmares any other time, after all of what she sees in her job, even if her time out in field is limited these days, but these nightmares seem more vivid than others.

He frowned a little. "That's a first, usually I'm at a crime scene when it happens."

Taking another deep breath, she nods as she pulls back from his arms a little so she could look into her husband's eyes. "I know."

Knowing the look she was giving him, he gives her a small smile as he moved one of his arms from around her and cupped her cheek. "I know that look babe, but you know I have to go in today, with Carly and Brett up in Seattle and Luke not back from his vacation until tomorrow, it would be unfair to call someone else in without notice."

In the past, to make it easy on Catherine after she had one of those nightmares, Warrick would take a few days off, and it was going to be a plan this year too, but just yesterday Carly's mom ended up in the hospital, so obviously she and Brett left for Seattle immediately.

Catherine nodded sadly. "I know, I just..."

She trails off as she looks down, and he moves his thumb towards her chin and lifted her head back up and gave her another smile. "I'll tell you what, I'll call Sara and see if she can give me a ride into work this morning, and I'll make sure I work with her today. I won't leave her sight."

He figured if there was anybody in that lab, or any lab for that matter, that she would trust more, outside of herself, to keep him safe, it was Sara.

She smiled as she asked. "Really?"

He nodded with a slightly bigger smile in return. "Really, nobody would mess with Sara."

She chuckled slightly, feeling a little more relieved as she gets back into his arms. "Thank you." Then feeling a little embarrassed, she whispered. "You must think that I'm..."

He cuts her off as he held her tight while he moved them down so they were laying back on their mattress. "Hey, you know what, I would probably feel the same way." He kisses her head before he continued. "In fact, I do feel the same way when I have bad dreams too and it involves you."

She moved her hand to she could place it on his bare chest and whispered. "You do?"

"Of course, I just don't tell you because I don't want to worry you more than you already do." She kissed his chest this time as he continued while running his hand up and her arm. "And I promise you this, I'm not going anywhere. I have a bright future to look forward to, like walking two beautiful daughters down the aisle on their wedding day, watching my sons grow into men that I can be proud of."

Catherine smiled, thinking of the same future, as she added. "And grandchildren?"

He chuckled with a nod. "Eventually yes, but let's hold off on that dream for awhile, ok?"

She chuckled in return. "I agree."

Feeling emotional, he finished. "And you know what else?" She pulls back slightly so she could look into her man's eyes as he cupped her cheek. "Anniversaries with you, I want as many as I can get, you hear me?" She nodded with tears in her eyes. "I'm not done with you, not by a long shot."

He wiped her tears away before bringing her back down so they could share a deep, passionate kiss, wanting to wipe her nightmare away, then after pulling back, she gets back into his arms and holds him tight as he whispered. "I love you."

One last sniffle, she whispered. "I love you too."

* * *

An hour later

While William was sitting at the kitchen table, and Isabella was in her highchair, Grissom was cooking as Sara, who was dressed for the day, walked into room with her phone up to her ear. "No problem, I'll meet you outside in 40 minutes? Ok, bye Warrick."

As she pulled the phone from her ear, Grissom turned to look at his wife with a raised eyebrow. "What was that about?"

She stuck her phone in her pocket and replied. "I guess Warrick is riding with me this morning."

While they thought it was interesting, it wasn't an uncommon request, even Sara had been known a few times since the Brown's moved across the street to ride with him to work, so they just chalked it down to 'one of those days' and shrugged their shoulders before Sara turned her attention to their children with a smile while Grissom turned his attention back to cooking their breakfast.

Eventually their plates/bowls and glasses were empty and in the sink, and after Sara said her loves yous and kissed her family goodbye, she grabbed her CSI items, keys, purse and a jacket before walking outside and closing the door behind her.

When she came in perfect view of the Brown residence she saw Warrick standing there with his backside against the front of Catherine's vehicle, who seemed to be deep in thought, so she smiled and said. "You ready?" When he didn't respond the first time, she shouted a little louder. "Hey Warrick, you ready?"

Mentally shaking his head at the sound of Sara's voice, he looked her way and nodded with a smile before heading towards her driveway.

Once they were in her vehicle and buckled up, Sara started it, the police scanner in a low volume also coming on, before backing out of the driveway, and they weren't down the street that far when Sara finally spoke, breaking the silence between them. "Is everything ok?"

Still feeling a little spaced out, Warrick mentally shook his head and asked. "Huh, What?"

Sara smiled as she repeated herself. "I asked if everything is ok, you seem a little off right now."

He cleared his throat before responding. "Oh, uh yeah, everything is fine." As convincing as he tried to be, she wasn't really buying it. She's known this man for a long time now, and knows when something is really off with him, which she was about to call him out, but he spoke again before she could. "Have you ever felt you missed out on something big when you left Vegas?"

She was a little surprised about the unexpected question at first, but then she chuckled and smiled before answering. "The biggest moments of my life happened after I left Vegas, what could I have missed that was bigger than getting married and having two children?"

He nodded with a smile. "I guess you got a point there."

Sara stopped at the first stop sign and looked over at her partner/friend before asking in a soft tone. "Is this about you missing time with Eli?"

She wasn't totally wrong about that question, he did still beat himself up for missing out on 9 years of his life, even though he never knew about him, and Sara could see in Warrick's eyes that the answer to her question was partially right, even if that's not exactly where his mind was currently at, so she continued. "I can only imagine how it must feel to have a child in your care after years of not knowing that he existed, but I also know the choice between leaving or staying isn't a simple one for you, because had you stayed, yes you more than likely would have known about Eli and had more time with him. But on the other hand, look what you could have missed out on. Would you still be married to Catherine? Would Cassandra exist? And what about Rick, where would his life be hadn't he been adopted by you two?" Warrick's heart raced at the thought of never having that life with Catherine as Sara continued with a comforting tone. "It's a situation I don't envy for sure, and I'm sorry if you're still torn about it and the circumstances that lead you to find out about him, but..."

He cuts her off with a slight smile. "But I should stop beating myself up about it, and thinking about all the 'could haves' or 'what if's' will only drive me crazy?"

She gives him a smile before replying. "I only say that with love and care."

Warrick nodded. "I know, and I get it." He sighed a little before continuing. "It's just hard sometimes not to, you know." Sara nodded in understanding as she placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort, then after a second she places her hand back on the steering wheel, looked both ways before starting to drive again, then he asked a question that shocked her. "Then how about I change the question, do you think leaving Vegas saved your life?"

Sara gasped, almost swerving the vehicle in the process before quickly gaining control of it again, and just as she was about to ask where this question came from, they hear from the police scanner that there was a break-in and assault at an apartment complex, which they were going to just let the cops take care of it, and they'll deal with it if it came to them later, but when they recognized the address to it being one of their own, albeit on another shift, there was little hesitation when Sara changed the direction of her vehicle.

* * *

AN: Find out what happens next, thanks for reading, and please review.


	2. Secrets Revealed

AN: Warning: A few questionable words. Thanks to those who favorite/followed.

* * *

Chapter 2: Secrets Revealed

Once Sara and Warrick made it to their destination, she parked her vehicle before they both got out a little quicker than normal, and after stepping inside the apartment building, where they saw a few officers talking to the victim, who was sitting down on some stairs that lead to the top floors, Sara spoke as her and Warrick got closer to her. "Andrea?"

The now 31 year old Andrea Spears, who had blond hair with hazel eyes, and was around Sara's height and close to her weight, although she had a little more muscle than Sara, looked towards Sara, giving her a shocked look as she saw her and Warrick. "Sara? What are you two doing here?"

The female police officers were going to say something, but Sara pulled out her badge. "Sara Grissom, from CSI, we just wanted to check on her."

The officers nodded, and after a few more words and a business card was given to the other woman, the officers walked towards Andrea's apartment, where there were a few other officers looking through her apartment.

Once they were away from them, Sara looked at Andrea, who had a bruise on her temple, with concern as she answered her question. "We heard from the scanner what happened, are you ok?"

Wrapping an arm around her waist, Andrea nodded her head. "Uh yeah, I'm fine, you don't need to worry."

With a comforting tone, Sara asked again. "Do you know who could have done this?"

Andrea sighed before replying as she started to stand up. "Listen, I told everything to the police officers, and I don't need you two to..."

She stopped speaking suddenly when she became wobbly after she stood up, so Sara and Warrick stepped forward and helped her sit back down on the stairs before Sara spoke again. "I think you should get that bruise checked out, you could have a concussion."

Andrea winced as she placed her free hand up to her temple. "I did get hit pretty hard."

Then Sara said something that shocked both her and Warrick. "And you should get something else checked out too, if I'm not mistaken."

Andrea looked at Sara with wide eyes for a few seconds before she asked softly. "How did you know?"

She nodded towards the arm that was still wrapped around her waist. "How you are holding yourself, and I saw your thumb moving up and down ever so slightly a few times, so how far along are you?"

Not able to hide her smile or the glow, despite what she just went through, Andrea replied with a small sparkle in her eyes. "I just found out last week that I'm about two weeks."

Sara nodded with a smile. "Congratulations." Warrick shared that same sentiment before Andrea nodded with a smile of her own. "Thank you." Then she lost her smile and continued with an apologetic tone. "And I'm sorry about..."

But Sara cuts her off. "Don't worry about it, what you went through had to be pretty scary." Andrea nodded before Sara continued. "And I want you to know that you can tell us anything, we are here to help."

Andrea just nodded again, and after a few seconds of silence, Sara nodded with a sigh, thinking she's not going to speak again. "Ok, we'll uh, we'll let you go. Make sure you get checked out."

As Sara and Warrick turned to leave, Andrea spoke. "Sara?" Sara turned around to look at the other woman, who seemed to be a little more scared than she was just moments ago. "It's true I don't know who done this, but..."

The woman trails off, and Sara moved closer to her before she kneeled down so she was eye level with her and spoke softly. "But what, what is it?"

There was a short pause before the other woman continued. "The father of my child and I had a very bad break-up."

Now feeling even more concerned for the other woman, Sara asked. "Does he know about the baby?"

Andrea shook her head. "No."

"And who broke it off?"

"Me." Andrea took a breath as she ran her thumb up and down her stomach as she continued with emotion, trying not to cry. "He was turning into a man I could no longer recognize."

"Violent?"

"Almost a few times, I swear it never got past shouting, but the last time it happened, I knew I needed to get out before it went there."

"Good for you, and it's a good thing you did, considering what you found out afterwards."

"I just wish it hadn't ended up like this for my little one, he or she deserves the best."

With the smile still on her face, Sara continued. "And he or she will because they have a mother who will give them the best life she can. Yeah, it sucks when there aren't two parents, but when one of them is unstable, it's best to get out before something worse happens to themselves or the child."

"I know, and I'm not second guessing my decision, it needed to be done."

After Sara nodded one more time, she asked. "So, do you think he could have done this?"

There was no hesitation when Andrea replied. "No, at least not directly, he's too smart for that." Now there was a slight pause, and Andrea continued after clearing her throat. "There is something else you should know, the father of my child is Spencer." Both Sara and Warrick looked at her in shock, and Andrea gave them a shy look. "I know, but outside of the lab he wasn't the same man you guys saw, he was different, caring, loving even."

Warrick finally spoke. "Are you sure we are talking about the same man here?"

While Warrick had never worked with him personally, he knew how he was in the lab, cocky and arrogant.

Andrea nodded with a slight smile at first then she lost it as she looked down. "It was great for awhile, but then, like I said, things started to turn for the worse. I even felt I had to change shifts."

"That's right, I did hear that you went to the night shift. They got a good one."

Andrea smiled shyly at Sara's compliment. "Thank you."

Sara nodded as she stood up, and after asking Warrick if he had pen, she pulled out a business card, turned it around and wrote down her personal cell phone number and handed it to Andrea. "Here, if you ever need to talk about anything at all or you need help with anything, this is my personal cell phone number."

Andrea looked a little surprised as she grabbed the card. "Why are you doing this?"

They never got close when they had worked together, so this felt strange for the younger woman that Sara would give out her personal phone number to her.

Sara gave the younger woman a smile before answering. "True, we were never that close, but you are one of us, and I would like to think that if one of us is in a sticky situation we would come together and help one another out."

Andrea smiled with a slight nod. "I would like to think so too, thanks again."

After one more nod and smile, Sara and Warrick turned around again, this time leaving, and by the time they reached her vehicle, they were steaming.

* * *

When they arrived at the lab, they got out of her vehicle and headed for the building, and moments after walking in, 27 year old Malcolm, an African American, around the same height and weight as Warrick, with short black hair and brown eyes, was walking up to them with a smile and a file in his hand. "Hey, I hope you don't mind I sent Harry out on a case."

They were slightly late, and Sara actually appreciated it, so she nodded with a smile, although her anger was still under the surface. "Thanks, Malcolm."

He nodded with the smile still on his face, but it started to die down when he now felt the air shift, and he was about to ask what was up when both Sara and Warrick saw Spencer head for the locker room, who had worked a double, then seconds later they headed in that direction too as Malcolm watched them with confusion on his face.

Warrick actually got in the room first, walked towards the third aisle, walked up behind Spencer, grabbed the back of his neck and pushed him against the lockers, making Spencer shout. "What the hell!?"

Warrick then spoke in a hard tone. "Don't ever go near her again, you hear me?"

Still upset but with confusion setting in, he asked. "I don't know who you are talking about, man. But if this is about your wife, I would never get near her, well like that." Then couldn't help but smirk a little. "Although, back in the day I heard she was a stripper, now I wouldn't have minded getting near that."

That comment only made Warrick more upset so he turned the other man quickly around so they were face to face and he was about to punch him, when Sara, who would have loved to see it, but knew it wouldn't be good for her friend, spoke in a concerned tone. "Warrick, don't do it, he's not worth getting in trouble for."

Warrick paused for a few seconds, almost going against Sara's wishes, but in the end, he nodded while looking at the smirking man. "You're right, he isn't." And with that he removed his hands from the younger man and stepped back.

As Spencer straightened out his shirt, he smirked again as he moved so he was in front of his locker again. "Man, I don't know what got you so riled up this morning, but maybe you need to ask your wife for one of her 'special numbers' to make you unwind."

Sara could see it coming a mile away, but before it happened, she moved to step in front of Warrick and placed a hand on his chest to stop him, and after Spencer had grabbed what he needed, he closed his locker and gave them one last smirk. "Enjoy the rest of your day." Before heading towards the door, doing a head nod towards Malcolm as he walked past him. "Hey man, I'll talk to you later."

Malcolm nodded while he spoke as he was even more confused on what just happened. "Yeah, sure man." When Sara and Warrick came in view, Malcolm asked. "Can I ask what the hell is going on here?"

Warrick took a breath. "I think I need some air."

Sara nodded. "Ok, but don't do..."

Warrick cuts her off with his hands raised and a smile. "Don't worry, I'll be a good boy."

Sara just nodded again before Warrick left the room so he could go outside. He remembered about his promise to his wife but since they were still at the lab he knew he would be ok.

When it was just Malcolm and Sara, she asked him. "Are you still friends with Spencer and Andrea?"

Malcolm cleared his throat and answered with a nod. "Uh, yeah."

When she noticed he seemed a bit nervous about something, she reassured him. "It's ok, I know about them, or I guess I should say knew about them." As she saw him relax a little, she continued. "Did she tell you why they broke up?"

Malcolm shook his head. "No, only that it wasn't working out for them."

"And how upset was he?"

"Pretty upset, he once confessed to me, before they broke up, that he thought she could be the 'one'." When Sara looked even more concerned, Malcolm asked. "What, what's wrong?

"Something happened to Andrea this morning."

He looked at her wide-eyed with a gasp before asking. "Is she ok?"

Seeing how worried he was, she placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "A little scared, but yes, she's ok." He took a breath before she continued. "Although, maybe you should give her a call later."

"I will." Then a second later, putting the pieces together, he continued. "Wait, is what happened between Warrick and Spencer have something to do with what happened to Andrea? You think that Spencer had something to do with it?" Sara didn't have to say anything for the level 3 CSI to know that's exactly what she was thinking, and he took a deep breath while walking towards one of the metal benches that was in front of the lockers. "Oh my god, I can't believe this."

She then walked up to him. "Now, I don't know for a fact he had something to do with it, but..."

He cuts her off with a slight smile as he looked up at her. "I've learned not to discredit your gut." As she gave him a slight smile, he asked. "What do you want me to do?"

She looked a little shocked as she tried to speak. "Malcolm, I..."

He cuts her off as he stands back up. "I'll ask questions, keep an eye on him, anything that you want me to do just ask, anything for her." When she now looked at him with suspicion, he realized where her mind went, and he chuckled while shaking his head."No, don't go there. I love her like a sister and that's as far as it will ever go, trust me."

This news somewhat shocked her though. "I uh, I didn't know you were that close to her."

He took a breath before he explained. "I was working here barley a month, and let's just say I had some money and housing problems, she found out and took me into her home until I got back on my feet, no question's asked. Someone she barely knew she welcomed into her home, so that alone deserves my loyalty."

Sara nodded in understanding before she replied with concern. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that."

He waved it off with a smile. "It was before you got here, you know."

"I know, but still. You're doing ok, now, right?"

He placed a friendly hand on her shoulder as he responded. "Of course. And for what I offer..."

She cuts him off with a sigh. "I just want her to be ok and feel safe, and if he did have something to do with it, I want him to pay for it."

Malcolm nodded as he removed his hand. "Ok."

As he started walking towards the door, Sara spoke again. "Malcolm?" He turned around to look at her before she continued. "Whatever you are thinking of doing, please be careful, something is telling me this is not the same man you first met."

He smiled with one more nod. "I will."

She nodded one more time with a smile then smirked. "Now, isn't it time for someone to get to work around here?"

He chuckled. "You got it boss." Before finally leaving the room.

Once Sara was alone, she took a breath while pinching the bridge of her nose, after the morning events, she had a feeling this was about to become a long day.

* * *

Sara's day turned out exactly like she predicted, the case she was working on with Warrick ran a little later than a shift, and even Malcolm was hit by the 'double' bug, so by the time she had gotten home, she spent time with her kids until they had to go to sleep before she had her dinner, and once she did, her and Grissom retreated to the living room, and after he handed her a glass of wine, he sat down next to her on the couch before she spoke after taking her first sip. "Thank you."

He smiled. "You're welcome."

She smiled in return before continuing. "I don't only mean the wine. I mean..."

He cuts her off as he took a hold of her hand. "I know honey, and you don't need to. I'm their father, I take care of them, not just watch them until you come home."

She squeezed his hand and replied with love. "I know, babe. I just want to make sure you know how appreciative I am to you when you have to do more than your share, especially on days like today."

"And we both knew there will be days like today, and some where you'll only have a few hours, I get it, it's part of the job."

She moved her hand from his and cupped his cheek. "I love you so much."

With his blue eyes sparkling, he replied softly. "I love you too."

They look into each other's eyes for several seconds before moving forward and sharing a soft kiss, and when they pulled back, he kissed her on the forehead and whispered. "So, do you want to talk about today?"

She sighed and shook her head as she pulled back from him. "Can we not, I would just like to stick a pin in it for now."

"Ok."

"So, tell me about the kids' day after you picked them up from daycare."

He took a sip from his wine before telling her about his time with the kids, then towards the end of it, he finished. "Oh, there is something else I should mention, William is asking about going school supply shopping."

Sara almost chocked on the last bit of her small glass of wine before she spoke once she recovered. "What, already? It's not even summer time."

Grissom looked at his wife warmly, knowing her mixed feelings about their oldest baby hitting the school milestone, as he pointed out. "You know he's been chomping at the bit to go shopping for school supplies since we told him he'll be starting school when the summer ends."

She sighed as she sat hers and Grissom's glasses of wine on the table before moving so she was sitting on his lap horizontally so her back was against the arm of the couch as he wrapped his arm around her waist before she wrapped her arms around his neck and continued. "I know, it just seems like it's going by too fast."

Lovingly, he whispered. "Well, least we have one more."

She sighed again before practically pouting. "Who will be 1 next month." He gave her a slight chuckle before she continued with a smile and love in her eyes. "I guess we just have to face it, our babies are growing up too fast and there is nothing we can do to stop it."

Softly again, he whispered in her ear. "You still have me, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

She moved one of hands to his cheek again and replied. "Which is something I'm completely thankful for."

A moment later their lips touched again, this time not even taking their time on getting it to the passionate side of things, and not much time after that, her shirt was off and his was unbuttoned halfway when her cell phone rang, deep down both of them wanted her to ignore it, but Sara slowed them down and placed her forehead against his, taking a breath. "I'm sorry, I have to get that."

He nodded in understanding, and after she got up, she headed towards her bag that was hanging up on the coat hanger and picked up her personal phone before answering it. "Grissom."

After first she didn't hear anything, then a scared voice appeared. "Sara? Please come, I'm scared."

Sara gets wide eyes as she spoke. "Andrea? Is that you?"

"Please Sara, Please come!"

"Ok, just stay there, I'm on my way."

She hung up the phone and turned to her husband, who was now in front of her with her shirt in his hand while his was buttoned up, and she gave him an apologetic look. "Griss, I'm..."

But he cuts her off with a smile, proud to be married to this wonderful woman even if at times their nights get interrupted, as he cupped her cheek. "It's ok, just do what you have to do. But please have someone go with you."

She nodded with a smile. "I know just who to call, don't worry."

He removed his hand so she could put her shirt back on, and once it was, she gives him a kiss and whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too, be careful."

"I will, I'll see you later."

After a nod, Sara grabs her bag and jacket and heads out of the house to see what Andrea was so spooked about.

* * *

AN: Does anybody want more? Thanks for reading, and please review.


	3. So it begins?

AN: Thanks for the support, here is the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 3: So it begins?

When Sara arrived at Andrea's apartment complex, then the outside of her door, she knocked on it. "Andrea, it's Sara, I'm here, and I brought someone with me."

On the other side of the door, the woman spoke softly. "Who?"

The other person who met Sara there, spoke next. "It's me, Andrea."

The door was unchained and the deadbolt clicked to unlock before she opened the door and looked at Sara's companion first. "Malcolm, what are you doing here?"

He smiled. "Sara felt she needed a reinforcement." Then cringed when he saw the bruise at her temple. "Damn, are you ok?"

She pointed to the head as she moved the door wider so they could come in. "The bruise, yes, but the other stuff I don't know." Once the door closed, she continued after a sigh when she turned to look at her guests. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, or maybe I shouldn't have cal..."

Malcolm cuts her off in a caring tone. "Hey, I'm glad you did. I just wish you would have called me personally, you know I would have been here in a flash."

She nodded with a slight smile before she looked down. "I know, but I didn't want to be a burden to you."

He moved a little closer and whispered. "You never would be, you helped me out all those years ago, and I'll be glad to do the same for you, no matter what it is."

Andrea looked up into her friend's eyes, then after a second, she stepped closer to him and gave him a hug, and as he hugged her back, she whispered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

While they pulled back, she looked over at Sara and continued. "And thank you to you too."

"No problem, so what happened?"

She took a breath and explained. "I was getting phone calls, but no voice, and I swear I saw someone out there watching me."

Malcolm walked towards the window and moved the curtains to the side to look out, but as expected, saw nothing, before he turned to look at her and asked. "And you really feel it's Spencer?"

She looked sadly at Malcolm, knowing the friendship he had with the other man. "Malcolm, I'm..."

But he cuts her off. "If it's really him, I'm on your side, no questions asked."

She nodded before replying in a soft voice. "My heart don't want to believe it, but every other part of me, even my CSI instincts says, 'yes'." Then she started to have tears in her eyes. "I just don't know what to do, I called in sick for the night, but I don't even feel safe being alone."

Malcolm swooped into action, wrapping his arms around her when he got close to her again. "Then come home with me."

Andrea shook her head and stepped back from his arms. "No, I can't. I can't risk putting you in danger, I won't do it."

Seeing a woman unrevealing before her eyes, knowing where this could potentially lead to, and not wanting to see it happen, especially with an innocent unborn child involved, Sara had a sudden idea. "Andrea, how many days of vacation time do you have?"

The other woman wiped the tears off her cheeks and smirked. "Uh, probably too many to count."

Malcolm then smirked. "Who doesn't in this room?"

They all slightly chuckled before Sara continued. "How would you feel about going out of state for a bit?"

A little intrigued by the idea, Andrea asked as she saw Sara pull her phone out of her pocket. "What do you have in mind?"

Sara held up one finger before putting the phone up to her ear after dialing a number. "Hey Ryan, you still leaving tonight?...Do you mind taking someone with you?...She's a friend and needs a safe place to stay for a bit... ok, I'll meet you at your place in about 25 minutes?...Thank you." After ending the call, Sara asked Andrea. "Have you ever been to Seattle Washington?"

"I can't say that I have."

"Then I hope you enjoy the scenery."

Before she moved to the bedroom to pack, she asked. "You sure?"

"Trust me, you'll be safe there, and I think right now it's for the best for you and..."

Sara stopped herself before she finished that sentence, but Malcolm caught it quickly and asked with confusion. "And who?"

Sara gave the other woman an apologetic look, but Andrea just shook her head slightly before looking at Malcolm as she placed her hand on her stomach. "For me and the baby."

Malcolm's eyes get wide in surprise before a smile appeared on his face. "Wait, what? A baby? You mean I'm going to be an uncle?"

Andrea chuckled with a nod. "Yeah, you are going to be an uncle."

He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her again. "That is so awesome, congratulations."

"Thank you."

As they pulled back, he continued a little sadly after clearing his throat. "I'm sorry about the situation. I'm beginning to see why you said it wasn't working out with him anymore, and I'm glad you got out when you did because as bad as it would have been to see you in a hard place like that, it would have been much harder to see your little one in it.  
And I hope you know you can count on me, that little baby will have at least one good male figure in his or her life, I'll make sure of it."

Andrea nodded a she wiped more tears away. "I know that, thank you again."

After Malcolm nodded, Andrea finally headed for her bedroom to pack, and while in the past she was known to be a heavy packer, after this experience and finding out she was pregnant, she only cared about packing for the absolute essentials, and taking care of her baby any way that she could.

* * *

When the three of them made it to Ryan's place, he greeted Andrea, and Andrea met a sleepy Elizabeth in the backseat of his car, then while Sara and Ryan shared a hug, she whispered. "Thank you Ryan, and give Carly and the rest of the family my love."

As much as Ryan wanted to, he couldn't leave as quickly as Carly did to see their mom, so he choose tonight to drive there since Elizabeth wasn't a fan of flying.

Ryan nodded with a smile. "I will, and you're welcome." He turned to look at Malcolm, who was helping Andrea in the vehicle, and asked. "You ready?"

Malcolm was going to follow them for a bit just in case.

Malcolm nodded before closing the passenger door and heading towards his vehicle while Sara spoke towards him. "You can come in some time after lunch time tomorrow."

The man nodded with a smile. "Thank you."

Sara nodded in return as she watched him get into his vehicle before Ryan started driving then seconds later Malcolm was following behind him.

Sara gets into her vehicle with a sigh before driving home.

* * *

When she arrived there, and had stepped inside the house, she closed and locked the door, set the alarm, made sure the rest of the doors and windows were locked and turned the lights off before heading upstairs, then after checking on the children, she headed for the master bedroom, which was the last door on the left, stopping in the doorway when she got there and looked at her husband, who was in sweatpants and a t-shirt, sitting up with his glasses on, reading a book.

He looked up the moment he felt her presence, then without saying a word, he removed his glasses, closed his book and sat both of the items on his night stand before opening up his arms.

She smiled as she walked into the room, closing the door until it was cracked before walking towards the bed, slipping her feet out of her shoes and socks as she went, even her pants landed on the floor. When she was at her husband's side of the bed, he lifted the covers up for her after slipping his legs under them himself, and once she was settled under the covers and in his arms while laying on her side, he wrapped his arms tight around her and kissed the top of her head, making her sigh in content.

She wished every woman could have a man like her husband, someone who made them feel loved, cherished, and safe. The world would be a better place if there were more men like him. But she knew that will never be the case, even feeling there were more on the opposite end of the spectrum after every domestic case she deals with, and there was only one Gil Grissom to have, which made her feel like the luckiest person in the world to be the one to have him.

* * *

The next morning

After having breakfast with the family, Sara kissed them goodbye and headed for the lab, then after stopping at her office, she headed for the break room to address the team, and when she saw Luke sitting at the table, she smiled at the youngest member. "Welcome back, Luke. I hope your grandmother had a nice birthday."

Luke was out in Orlando Florida for a family reunion/grandma's birthday.

Luke smiled with a nod. "Yes ma'am, 85 years old and still going strong. Plus, seeing the rest of the family was pretty cool too."

"Good for you."

Luke then lost his smile as he asked. "How's Carly's mom doing?"

"The last I heard she's recovering nicely at Robin's (Carly's older sister) home now."

Luke smiled again. "That's good to hear. I hope it wasn't too bad being short staffed, I'm sorry I wasn't here."

Sara waved it off. "No need to apologize, we made do with who we had, but now that you're here, ready to get to work?"

"Let's do this."

Before Sara could start, Harry spoke in concern. "Wait, where is Malcolm?"

Sara then answered in a no nonsense tone. "He'll be in later."

Realizing the tone she used, they didn't comment anymore on it, so they just nodded before Sara handed the assignments out, and after the other two men left the room, Warrick asked with a raised eyebrow. "Where is Malcolm really?"

Sara stood up with her coffee mug and headed for the sink. "He had to do something last night so I told him he could get a little more rest."

Warrick also walked towards the sink as he continued asking. "He had to do something? And you knew what he was doing last night?"

Knowing he wasn't going to stop asking questions, she made sure they were the only ones in the room before looking at him and telling him what had happened last night, which by the end of her explaining, Warrick felt a little sad that she didn't call him. "And you didn't call me to help?"

She gave him a smile. "Apparently him and Andrea have a sibling type of friendship." When he looked a little shocked, she nodded with a chuckle before continuing. "I know, I wasn't aware of it either. Anyway, after all that she's been through I felt she would be a little calmer with him there, someone she's more familiar with."

Warrick nodded in understanding. "I get it, and good call."

Sara smirked as she headed towards the table. "I didn't become supervisor with just my pretty face, you know." After a small chuckle by the both of them, Sara continued in a caring tone. "Are you going to be ok working a case by yourself today? I mean you seem pretty insistent on working with me yesterday, so I was wondering if today was the same?"

Warrick hid his shy look before nodding. "I'll be fine."

After one more nod, Sara picked up her case file and left the room, but had to speak with someone before she started on her case.

* * *

When the elevator dinged and opened, Sara walked out of it before walking to Catherine's office and knocking on the door when she got there.

Catherine, who was sitting at her desk just getting started on today's paperwork, looked up and said. "Yes, come in."

The door opened a second later, and Sara asked with a smile. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course."

After Sara closed the door, she headed for the left chair in front of Catherine's desk and sat down, speaking pretty much the moment she did. "Something has come to my attention, and it needs to be addressed."

Looking concerned, the older woman asked. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

Sara took a breath before she told her what happened yesterday/last night, and when she was done, Catherine now looked shocked. "Warrick didn't say anything about that, although I did feel he was a little distracted. I just figured it was case related." After Sara nodded in understanding, Catherine continued. "Now I know why Andrea really wanted to change shifts." Sara nodded one more time before Catherine finished. "And you're sure she believes Spencer is behind it all?"

"Yes."

Catherine then sighed. "But you don't have proof, just her word."

"Unfortunately not, but you should have seen her Cath, I believe her, something is wrong. There has to be something on this guy. I'm beginning to feel he isn't as squeaky clean as we are all lead to believe."

"I hear you, and I'll see what I can do, what I can find. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

"And thank you for listening."

As Sara stood up, Catherine spoke again. "I trust you Sara, and I know if you feel something is up, you're more right than wrong."

"Well, let's hope it hasn't failed me this time."

After a nod from Catherine, Sara turned and walked out of the office.

* * *

Hours later, after collecting everything she needed on her case, Sara headed back to the lab, turned in what needed to be processed before heading towards the break room to get something to drink, and as she was opening her bottle of water, her phone rang, so she slipped it out of her pocket and answered it. "Grissom."

As the detective on the other side started talking, Sara turned towards the counter, grabbed a pen that was lying there and wrote the address on a napkin.

After a few moments, she ended the call with a sigh, it was another case and it looked like she needed Malcolm to come in a little earlier than what they had agreed on, so she hit speed dial number 6 and brought it up to her ear.

Seconds later she hears. "Cooper." But it wasn't only from his voice on his phone, it was coming from inside the break room as well, so she turned around and Malcolm looked at her with a smile.

She smiled in return before ending the call. "Hey, you're earlier than discussed."

He pushed the button to end his side of the call. "Yeah, well, I crashed the moment I got home and slept pretty good, so when I woke up I felt rested enough to come in. I hope it's ok."

Sara walked up to him with the napkin and handed it to him. "It's more than ok, I just got a new case."

He took the napkin with another nod. "I'm on it."

He turned around to walk out of the break room when Sara asked after clearing her throat. "Malcolm?" He turned around to look at her before she continued. "How was your night?"

Understanding what she was really asking, he smiled. "Uneventful, both ways."

She smiled in return, getting his meaning. "I'm glad."

After one more nod and smile, Malcolm turned back around and walked away before Sara walked out of the room herself so she could get back to work.

* * *

Hours later

(Towards the end of shift)

Sara signed her report and closed the case file with a satisfied sigh, and after moving it to the top right corner of her desk, where a small stack was already sitting, she grabs her coffee mug and stands up from her desk before heading towards the break room, and once she walked in, she asked her team, who was in the room, talking. "How are your cases coming along?"

Both Luke and Harry proudly announced their case was more or less an open and shut, same as Warrick's and Malcolm's.

Sara nodded with a look of relief, not that she liked dealing with death or any other criminal act, but the open and shut ones were her favorites. "Then it seems like today was relatively easy, well done everybody. Why don't you get out of here and enjoy the rest of your evening. Just come in a little earlier tomorrow to finish your reports."

Not to question their boss, Harry and Luke immediately stood up with their files and headed out of the room, Malcolm at least paused for a second, making Sara nod, so he nodded in return before he stood up with his file and walked out of the room, leaving Warrick and Sara alone, and she turned to look at him, who was now next to her by the counter. "That offer goes to you too, you know."

He looked at her in return and was about to speak when an angry voiced Spencer walked into the room. "It was you, wasn't it? You're the reason I'm on suspension until further notice." Instinctively, even though there was plenty of space between him and them, Warrick moved to stand in front of her, which caused Spencer to smirk, seeing Warrick trying to be protective of her. "So, the big, bad, Sara Grissom needs protection, huh?"

Determined not to look weak in front of this man, Sara took a step forward so she was slightly in front of Warrick, replying in a hard tone. "For one, I don't need protection from anyone, and two what ever caused you to get the suspension had nothing to do with me, it was your doing, not mine."

He shook his head. "Except for the fact that you wanted me out of this lab the moment you got here, just admit it, you couldn't handle the competition, that's why you didn't want to work with me anymore."

"You see that's the difference between you and I, I don't see this job as a competition, it's about sharing the same goal, solving crimes, no matter what it is, and giving the victims families the closure that they deserve."

The air started to shift a little heavier as Sara and Spencer were staring one another down, and Warrick was beginning to not like it, but before he could say anything, Malcolm walked into the room, feeling the intensity in the room immediately. "What's going on here?"

Warrick finally did speak. "I think it's time that Mr. Richardson be escorted off the premises, he is no longer allowed in this building until further notice."

Still not exactly sure what was going on, Malcolm looked at Spencer. "Come on man, let's get out of here." Even though he was calm and collected on the outside, the inside was screaming to hit him.

Before he left, Spencer smiled at Sara, which she felt very uneasy about it, especially after his next words. "No doubt it won't be the last you see of me, this is not over." Then turned and walked out of the room, Malcolm following a moment later after sharing a look with Sara.

Once the room was empty but Sara and Warrick again, he asked. "You ok?"

Still feeling a little off about the encounter, but wanting to hide the fact, she nodded her head as she gave her friend a smile while looking into his eyes. "Yeah, I'm ok." Warrick wasn't sure if he fully believed her, but he was aching to go see his wife to make sure she was ok, and Sara seemed to sense that, so she nodded. "Go see if Catherine's ok."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze before he rushed out of the room and headed for the elevator that would take him up to his wife's office.

Sara took a deep breath before she headed towards her office. She knew Catherine had to have found something about him in order for her to find a legitimate reason to suspend him, and eventually she'll ask, but for now she wanted husband and wife to have time to themselves, which she got confirmation that Catherine was alright by the time she got to her office.

* * *

A few hours later

As she finished another round of a paperwork session, Sara's phone rang, so she placed her pen down on the desk and picked it up. "Grissom."

"Hi honey, just checking in."

Sara smiled warmly at her husband's voice. "Don't worry, I'm just about done here."

While her procrastination with paperwork wasn't as bad as her husband's, at times she did find herself a little behind, especially when they were short staffed. And with her agreed upon weekend vacation coming up next week, although she might postpone it to the next week after that, if Carly needed more time, she wanted to get as much done as she could before she got even more behind.

"Ok, so what do you want to do about dinner? I already fed the kids."

She nodded in understanding, even though he couldn't see, before she replied. "How about I bring home a pizza?"

"Alright, I'll call ahead and all you need to do is pick it up."

She smiled. "Sounds like a plan, I'll see you soon. Love you."

"Love you too, be safe."

After they hung up, she finished one more file before calling it an evening, and after packing up her items and locking up her office, she headed for her vehicle, then once she was in and turned it on, she actually turned the scanner off, ready to turn work off for the rest of the night. She's learned, especially after having children, that if it wasn't her, then someone else was capable enough to do the job, and tonight was one of those nights.

Of course her whole night had changed the moment she made it to the pizza place and had parked her vehicle  
when she realized a group of people were walking towards the darkest part of the parking lot, where she saw an even bigger group, so she opened her door, got out and headed in that direction, asking what was going on as she got near them, and one of the young males said someone was shot and the ambulance was on its way, so she rushed her steps a little more towards the front of the crowd, even though there wasn't much she could do since she wasn't a paramedic, but if the victim saw at least one friendly face to keep him or her calm, she would do it.

But the minute she got to the front, and saw who the victim actually was, he wasn't the only one that needed to be calmed down, Sara needed to as well.

She gasped loudly a second later and rushed towards the lying victim, a victim who was fighting for his life, his wife, his kids, and friends.

"Warrick!"

* * *

AN: Find out what happens next Thanks for reading and please review.


	4. Hits keep coming

AN: Thanks for the support, here is the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 4: Hits keep coming

_Once Sara made it to Warrick, which a good Samaritan was holding down on the gunshot wound and was about to move, but Sara asked. "Can you stay please?"_

_The middle aged man just nodded while he continued with his task before Sara's attention turned to Warrick's face, who was still wide eyed in shock, fighting for his life. She moved one arm around his shoulders and brought him closer to her and cupped his cheek as she spoke with emotion. "Keep your eyes on me on, Warrick, don't you dare give up now, you have a family and friends who care too much to let you go this early in your life." When he tried to speak, she shook her head. "No, save your energy, you can talk all you want in recovery because that's where you'll be, you hear me?" She continued to talk to him, giving him all the encouragement she could for him to fight, but just as they all heard the ambulance coming, he had closed his eyes, making her shout for him to open them back up as she checked for a pulse..._

Sara's thoughts came back to the present when she heard Catherine's voice the moment she had stepped out of the elevator. "Where is he, where is my husband!?"

Sara, who was standing in front of the window at the hospital, wiped the stray tear off her cheek and turned to the other woman, also seeing that Grissom was with her so they shared a look before Sara looked into Catherine's eyes as the other woman stopped in front of her, which Sara could tell she had been crying.

Catherine looked at the younger woman sadly. "Sara, he's going to be ok, right?"

Sara had a choice between telling her the truth or what she hoped would happen, and she chose the first option, knowing she wouldn't be able to hide it from her anyways, so after clearing her throat she whispered. "I don't know, he lost conciseness before the ambulance came." Catherine gasped before she placed a hand up to her mouth and Grissom placed a comforting hand on her shoulder while Sara continued, giving her something to hold on to. "He did still have a slight pulse that held steady throughout the route here, so he was still fighting."

As Catherine wasn't able to hide more tears coming down her face, Grissom rubbed her shoulders lightly as he spoke with emotion, trying to hold back his own tears. "And he's in one of the best hospitals in the country."

Sara nodded. "Plus, Kelly made sure he had the best surgeon."

Catherine just nodded as she moved away from them to stand in front of the window while Sara took a step towards her husband before he wrapped his arms around her for both of their comfort. Even though he was better, or as better as he could be with the lost of his mother, he was still feeling it, and to loose Warrick now was just something he didn't, and wasn't ready, to go through.

As he leaned down and kissed the top of her head, Sara asked softly. "The Kids?"

"I called for Stephanie to come over."

Sara and Grissom first met Stephanie Allen, who at the time was a Sophomore in High school and lived with her parents about three houses down from theirs, at a block party when they first moved into their house. She was known around the community to be one of the best babysitters there were. She was nice, talented, smart and loved what she did, even if it was a job to her so she could save money to help with college, and while they were impressed with her from the moment they met, they didn't really start using her services, which only happened if it was an emergency they both couldn't get out of and/or was unable to get a 'family' member to do it, until about four months ago.

While she started nodding, the elevator doors opened again and they immediately heard Harry's frantic voice. "Is it true?"

There was a pause as Sara reluctantly stepped back from her husband's arms, now needing to appear strong in front of her team, while Harry and Luke acted like they didn't see their leader looking so vulnerable. Even though their time with her hasn't been as long as the others, they never seen her look like that before.

Grissom squeezed his wife's shoulder a little before moving towards Catherine, who was still standing at the window, while Sara addressed Luke and Harry with a nod. "It's true, Warrick was shot."

Luke gasped while Harry, who wasn't known to curse, did just that, before Sara continued. "And I need you guys to go to the crime scene." Before either man could speak, Sara asked, realizing someone was missing. "Wait, where is Malcolm?"

Harry cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders. "I called him twice and no pick-up."

"Ok, I'll look into that..."

She trailed off and Luke nodded, while Harry asked in an uncertain tone. "Isn't there anybody else to call? Warrick deserves the best."

While it was true that Harry was coming into his own as a CSI, he always saw himself as a follower, not a leader, and with this case, the biggest at this point in his young career, he knew it needed to be done right, perfect even, or as close to perfect as they could get it, and he wasn't sure he was the right person to be that 'guy' right now.

Before Sara could speak, Luke could sense a moment, so he cleared his throat and said. "I'll uh, I'll met you downstairs."

They nodded before Luke turned toward the elevator so he could go down to the lobby and wait on his colleague, and once Luke was out of sight, Sara spoke in a comforting, but determined tone. "Yes he does, and you're that person." Before Harry could speak again, Sara continued. "Don't think about what this case means to your career or who it involves, just do what you've been trained to do, be that CSI, leader, that I know you can be." There was a slight pause before she asked. "Harry, I really need you right now, can I count on you?"

But then again this was also a man who never wanted to let anybody down, which did everything in his power to make sure he didn't, and he wasn't about to start now. His boss, his team, and especially Warrick, needed him to step up, so he nodded with a new determination. "Yes ma'am, you can."

Sara nodded with a smile. "Good, now get to work."

After one more nod and slight smile, Harry turned and headed for the elevator so he could get to work.

As the elevator door closed, Sara pulled her phone out of her pocket, hit speed dial number 6 and placed it up to her ear, hearing it ring until it got to his voicemail. "Malcolm, this is Sara, there is a situation I could really use your help with, call me back when you get this."

She pulled her phone from her ear with a concerned look, and Grissom saw it, so he walked up to her and asked. "What's wrong, honey?" He stopped to clear his throat before finishing. "Well, besides the obvious."

She gives him a comforting look before she replied in a concerned tone. "Malcolm hasn't picked up his phone, and he isn't known to miss a call, especially when it's work related."

Even though Grissom obviously didn't know Malcolm as much as Sara did, he did know what she said was the truth. He saw a lot of potential in him as CSI, even reminded him of Warrick in that sense. He was becoming quite the right hand man, or in his situation, a third hand man since Warrick and Carly was above him in seniority.

And knowing his wife like he did, also agreeing with anybody who knows her as a CSI, when she felt something was off, she was more right than wrong, so there was only one thing she had to do.

"Go honey, make sure he's ok."

Sara's face got concerned even more as she looked over his shoulder to see Catherine, torn on leaving or staying for her, and for Grissom since she knew how he was feeling as well.

But Grissom, knowing where she was looking and what she was thinking, cupped her cheek and replied softly. "We both know that while you're here physically, you won't be here mentally until you figure out what happened. Go, I'll be here for her. After all I am suppose to be her best friend, right? And that's what best friends do."

She moved her eyes to look at her husband's and gave him a smile. "And you're the best, best friend anybody could have asked for."

Grissom smiled a little shyly as he continued to reply softly. "I don't know about that, I think in the past I did drop the ball a few times, where maybe I could/should have been more of a friend."

She placed her hand on his hand that was still on her cheek, while speaking in a comforting tone. "Well, whatever happened in the past doesn't matter, now is where it counts. Besides, you two made up a long time ago, and now have one of the best friendships in this group, which is saying quite a bit."

He just nodded in agreement, and after another second, she made her decision, wishing she could be at two places at once, but as a boss she still had a duty to her other team members, the ones she could help.

"Will you call me if something changes?"

"Of course."

She nodded as she removed her hand from his before he removed his hand from her cheek so she could go and say a few words to Catherine, and after a hug between the two women, she walked up to her husband again and they share a hug before they whispered their love to one another, and after they pulled back, he cupped her cheek one more time and spoke in a loving tone. "Be safe out there."

He didn't want to jump to any conclusions this early, especially without the proof, but if Malcolm had disappeared and with Warrick in the hospital fighting for his life, he couldn't help but think that maybe the two incidents were related somehow. And like Grissom knowing his wife, Sara knew her husband, he was also one of the greatest CSI minded people she's ever known/worked with, so knowing what he was thinking, she nodded in agreement with a smile. "I will."

After he removed his hand from his wife's cheek, Sara moved towards the elevator with a new determination, needing to know what was going on.

* * *

Sara got to Malcolm's apartment complex after going to the lab to get his address, and while it wasn't the top of the line in richest terms, it was known to be pretty pricey, and considering what he had confessed to her about his money/housing problems in the past, he sure has come a long way since then and that he was very mature at managing his money, which sent a smile to her face as she walked inside the building.

Once she got to the correct apartment door, she knocked. "Malcolm if you're in there, please answer the door, our team needs you." After another knock, and still no answer, she tried the phone again, but once again there was nothing but his voicemail.

Now feeling more concerned than she was at the hospital, she felt she needed to get inside, but with no key in hand she decided to see if he had secretly stashed one in a hiding place before asking for help.

With the lights on the ceiling she found it highly unlikely it would be up there, there was no doormat so that option wasn't there, and while there were potted plants at the end of the hall, she couldn't see him using those either, so there was only one other option, she stood on her tippy toes, reached her hand up and felt along the door frame until she felt something in the middle, a key was taped down, so she smiled for the small victory, at least something went her way tonight, while she used it to open the door, immediately seeing the apartment pitch black.

She was going to search for the light but decided against it, she was going to treat this like a crime scene and not disturb anything while pulling out her phone and hitting the light button so she could see as she walked through the living room before making her way through the rest of the apartment, which consisted of a kitchen, one bedroom with its own small bathroom and a full bathroom for guests, and while the rooms were pretty good sized, Sara didn't see anything miss placed or messy in any of them, which she wasn't surprised how in order the apartment was, he was the same way with his space in his shared office.

She sighed as she reached the living room again and whispered to herself. "Malcolm, where are you?"

Deciding to give it one more try, she hit the correct speed dial, but as she was putting it up to her ear, she stopped when she not only heard the buzzing but a light coming from the phone that was under the coffee table.

She gasped a little, walked the short distance, kneeled down, took a few pictures and reached for it before looking at it, showing he now had several missed calls from Harry, a couple from Luke, plus the few she had tried.

Now there was an indication that he had been home sometime during the evening, but something must have happened that made him, not only leave without his phone, but ended up in an odd place, like there had been a struggle of some sort. However, there was no indication to suggest that, but then again there was also an explanation for that as well, someone could have cleaned up the mess. And if that was the case than who, and if her theory was right in all of this, is this the same person who shot Warrick?

So with that, knowing she needed more to go on, she headed for the door and stepped out in the hall, and as she was closing and locking the door, she heard a man's voice as he was walking towards her while he was carrying a plastic bag. "Excuse me ma'am, but is the man that lives there ok?"

Sara looked at the man who could have been in his early thirties with a slim build, blond hair and brown eyes, before asking with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Earlier I walked out of my apartment and I saw him and another man just leaving his, the other man had his arm wrapped around his waist, like he was helping him walk as they were heading towards the stairs."

Sara's heart raced a little as she asked. "Did you get a good look at the other man?"

He shook his head. "No, I live there (He pointed three doors down from Malcolm's apartment) so I only saw him from behind, and he had a hoodie on."

"And how long ago was this?"

There was a pause as he thought about it before answering. "Oh, I would say around two and a half to three hours ago."

Sara nodded as she pulled out a business card from her pocket and handed it to him. "If you can think of anything else, please call, and thank you."

He nodded with a smile. "You're welcome, and I will."

She nodded one more time as she headed for the elevator with her steps moving a little more quicker than before.

Once she made it to the front desk, she asked the early forties man who had a little more average build with short red hair and green eyes. "Excuse me, but I'm going to need a copy of your surveillance tapes from every angle you got."

He gives her a humorless chuckled as he replied. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't just give you..."

Sara cuts him off with a determined look as she shows him her CSI badge. "It's important I get those tapes, a life could depend on it, would you want to feel responsible for someone dying?"

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Well, when you put it like that."

After receiving the correct times she needed, the man behind the desk called the surveillance department, telling them it was an emergency he get those tapes sent to him.

Then once she had them and had gotten a few answers to her questions, she headed for the lab so the swing shift audio/visual woman could take a look at them to see if they could get any closer to getting some other questions answered.

* * *

AN: The next few chapters are ones you don't want to miss. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	5. Finding Him?

AN: Thank you for the reviews, here is the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 5: Finding Him?

30 Minutes later

After what felt like the 100th sigh since Sara turned in the surveillance tapes, Olivia, the Audio/Visual expert for the swing shift, who is from England, spoke in her English accent. "This man is good, he knew exactly how to avoid cameras so they can't get a good look of him."

As Sara nodded, her and the whole lab heard glass breaking from the break room, so Sara placed a hand on the shoulder of the late 20's, average height and weight, black haired, green eyed woman and said. "Please keep trying."

Olivia just nodded before Sara walked out of the room and headed for the break room, seeing Luke, Harry, and a few other CSI's from swing shift, who looked really freaked out on what they saw. She stood in the doorway of the room and asked them if they would give them a minute, so they just nodded before leaving the room as Sara looked at the guilty face of Harry.

"Harry, what's going on?"

With the pressure of the case, mixed with what's happened to Warrick and not finding much at the crime scene, he lost his cool for a second, which normally wasn't him, he's usually the calmest member of the team.

Harry sighed as he shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'll pay for that."

Sara nodded. "Yes you will, now I ask again, what's going on?"

After explaining it to Sara how he felt, she nodded in understanding before replying. "OK, let's take a moment and work this out. What do we know so far?"

Harry sighed again as he ran his hand down his clean shaven face. "Warrick was shot, and it looks like the person who had done it is a ghost. No one saw anything, and he's just out of sight of the only cameras outside." Before Sara could speak again, Harry asked in concern. "What about Malcolm, any word?"

Sara sighed as she shook her head. "No, and I know why, he was taken."

Now both men looked at her in shock as she continued to explain what she found out, then when she was done, Harry asked again. "What about tracing his phone?"

Sara nodded with agreement. "That would be a good idea, expect his phone was left in his apartment."

Luke than asked. "You think it was intentional, so we couldn't?"

Sara shrugged her shoulders as she walked towards the fridge to get a bottle of water for all of them. "That, or there was an actual struggle, but I didn't see anything that would suggest that."

Harry commented. "Or there was but the person cleaned up after themselves."

Once Sara had the waters, she handed them to her colleagues with another nod. "My thoughts exactly."

Then Luke did a humorless chuckle before saying. "Yeah, but most criminals don't think to clean up afterwards, so who would be smart enough to think like that, and can avoid cameras like they are ghosts?"

Harry was lifting up his bottle of water to take a drink while thinking this through when a sudden realization hit him, making him stop his movements and looked at his colleagues in shock. "What if it's one of us?"

Luke reluctantly agreed, only because he couldn't believe one of 'them' would think to do this to their own. "It makes sense, especially if there were crime scenes near or at those places."

Sara nodded. "And I believe would have to know the city pretty well too."

Luke spoke again. "Ok, so who do we know in the lab that's lived her the longest, is smart, a CSI, has a beef with Warrick, and assuming its the same guy, who would want to take Malcolm?"

Sara and Harry had eye contact, and while Harry didn't see all that's been going on the last few days, he's not only heard the rumors, but knew that the guy wasn't a fan of Warrick since he got here, which resulted in him moving shifts, so they both said his name.

"Spencer."

Luke looked at both them in shock at first, but then he took a moment and thought about the tension he felt from his time in the DNA lab between him and Warrick when their shifts would overlap, although before today if someone would have asked him who would have been Spencer's main target, he would have thought it would have been Sara. But then again going after Warrick was like going after her in some way, knowing how close they were and how it would affect her if something were to happen to him.

However, there was one thing that didn't make sense to him if it was Spencer, so he addressed it. "I get what you guys are saying, and it would make perfect sense if it is him, but there is a part I must be missing here because why take Malcolm? They've been pretty tight for as long as I've known them."

Harry was actually going to agree with that, because everything felt perfect, except that one little piece, it was like fitting a square object into a round hole, until Sara spoke, a realization finally hit her too as she thought about her  
conversation with Malcolm yesterday, and what he did to help Andrea.

"Maybe he found something out, and felt betrayed so he wanted to get back at him."

Not knowing that part of it, they both looked at her with curiosity before Harry asked. "Felt betrayed about what?"

Sara took a moment before filling them in, at least everything but the baby part, that was Andrea's decision on if or when she wanted to tell them, and by the time she was done, they were both heated, and Harry nodded his head, his free hand gripping into a fist. "Yeah, I believe it's him alright." He continued as he started walking towards the door of the room. "Let's get that son of a..."

Sara cuts him off, and stopping both of Harry's and Luke's movements. "Not so fast, before we go after him you're forgetting something, proof that he actually did something." They turned around to look at her as she continued. "What we have is theories and speculation, and while they all sound good, perfect, even, we need more."

They looked at her feeling frustrated and defeated before Harry asked. "And how exactly are we going to achieve that?"

She walked up to them, feeling just as frustrated as they are. "Well, I can put out an APB out for Malcolm's vehicle, it certainly didn't drive off on its own, maybe there will clues in there."

"Ok, and in the meantime are we suppose to just stay at the lab and sit on our..."

Sara cuts him off again as she pulled out the key to Malcolm's apartment with a smile. "We go where it all started."

Luke then commented. "But I thought you already searched his place and said there was nothing?"

"Not thoroughly, so I could have missed something." She then smirked. "I'm not as perfect as you guys all heard or think." As they showed a little smile, Olivia walked into the room, and Sara asked. "Any luck?"  
The guys turned their heads to see Olivia shake her head with a disappointed look, making Sara reply with a comforting tone. "It's ok, least you tried. This isn't over, not if I have anything to say about it."

With that Sara started walking out the door, Harry following immediately, but Luke took the time to smile and thank the young woman for trying, making her smile shyly before they heard Harry speaking loudly from the hall. "Luke, you coming or what!?"

Luke cleared his throat and replied with another smile. "I have to go."

She nodded with another smile in return before Luke rushed out of the room, making her giggle slightly as she walked towards the fridge to get a drink, hoping they find the person who did this to the day shift team.

* * *

Almost two hours later

When the three of them arrived back at Malcolm's, they each took a room and took their time, looking through it from top to bottom, until they all eventually met in the living room, their faces showing no signs of success, and one of them was about to speak when there was a knock on the door, their faces now turned to confusion before Sara started walking towards it while both Luke and Harry moved their hands to the guns that were holstered at their sides, ready to use if needed.

Once Sara got to the door, she looked in the peephole before gasping as she opened the door with a small smile. "Guys, what are you doing here?"

Harry and Luke's tension was eased a little when they saw Carly, Brett and Andrea walk into the apartment while Carly answered Sara's question. "When we heard what happened to Warrick, I knew I couldn't stay away."

They used the Hughes family Jet after they heard what was going on by Grissom, and after they had arrived at the lab, they were informed on where the team was, so they decided to head to Malcolm's to see if they could help.

Brett agreed with Carly's sentiment, while Andrea spoke a little softer. "And I also couldn't help but feel responsible..."

Sara cuts the other woman off in a reassuring tone. "This isn't your fault Andrea, I would never blame you for this."

The others agreed with her before Carly smiled at the younger woman. "See, that's what I've been trying to tell you."

As she nodded with a shy smile, Sara asked Carly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you guys, but what about your mom?"

Carly smiled a little wider as she waved it off. "Who do you think told us to leave? Or I should say in her words, 'Get your butts out of here and go where you are more useful'." They all chuckled before Carly finished. "Besides, she has dad, Robin, Ryan, and Courtney there, she's in good hands, believe me."

"I'm glad."

After a nod, they all officially greeted one another with hugs and handshakes, and as they were finishing up, Sara's phone rang, so she pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID first, speaking when she saw who was calling. "It's Grissom."

Everybody became quiet as hearts were racing while she answered the phone. "Hi babe, what's up?"

There was a pause before Grissom spoke in a soft voice. "Warrick's surgery was a success."

Sara sighed in relief, making everybody else ease up a little, but hearing his tone, she knew there was more to it, so she asked. "What happened?"

He cleared his throat before telling her. "He slipped into a coma." Sara gasped, making everybody look worried again as he finished. "And they don't know if or when he'll get out of it."

She cleared her throat this time, trying to hold onto her emotions as she tried to speak. "Griss, I'm so...I'm..."

Grissom cuts her off. "I know, I'm sorry too."

"I'll let everybody else know, and I hope to see you soon."

"Ok, I love you, be safe."

"I will, and I love you too."

They ended the call, and after a moment of silence, Sara told the team what had exactly happened, making everybody look at each other with sadness for a few seconds before Carly spoke after clearing her throat. "He's going to pull out of this, there are no 'ifs' and/or 'buts' about this. He's a fighter and has a lot to fight for."

As they nodded in agreement, their spirits lifting up a little, Sara's phone rang again, this time she answered it without looking who was calling first. "Grissom." The officer on the other end informed her that they had stopped a vehicle matching Malcolm's license plate numbers, and Sara asked. "Really, ok, my team will be right there."

After getting the location, she hung up and informed her team. "They found Malcolm's vehicle." After they looked at her with shock, Sara asked Harry. "Now what should we do?"

Harry half expected that Sara would give point to Carly or Brett now that they were here, so he was a little surprised she would let him continue, but he didn't question it, he looked at Luke and Andrea. "Can you two stick around here?" Both of them nodded while Harry looked at the remaining team members. "And the rest of us head out."

Once they all nodded, the four team members left the apartment.

* * *

When they arrived at their destination the two police officers who had stopped the man was talking to him, and as they got closer, Harry spoke. "Thanks guys, but we got this."

The much older police men looked at Harry, which Harry felt that they knew he wasn't the true 'alpha' of the team, but they just nodded and stepped away so he could ask questions, and he did the minute he looked at the early 20's, slim build, tall man, who had brown hair and brown eyes. "Can you tell us where you found the car?"

The young man chuckled and shook his head before replying with a smile, trying to act like he was cool or something. "Pssh, nah man, I didn't find the car, it is mine."

Him and the team tried to keep in their smirks and laughter to themselves before Harry continued after clearing his throat. "Really, then can you explain why the license plate matches that of our friend's vehicle?"

"Man there must have been some kind of mistake with the paperwork or something, because this is mine, 100% yo."

Realizing they weren't going to get much at this rate, and needing to find their friend/colleague, Harry changed tactics, trying to scare him a little bit to see if he would budge. "Ok, say this car is actually yours, but how would you feel every time you got in it you couldn't stop thinking about who died because you didn't tell us the truth."

The man looked at Harry with wide eyes. "Died?"

Harry nodded and continued to drive it home. "Yeah, a man could be out there dying, and it would be on your hands, can you really live with that?"

He immediately shook his head and replied. "No, sir."

This time the team smiled for a different reason while Harry spoke again. "Ok, now tell us where you found the vehicle."

"Right."

The man cleared his throat before telling Harry, then once that conversation ended, he asked the police officers if they could get a tow truck so they could send the vehicle to the lab before Harry turned around and headed for his team, who were all looking at him with pride, so he asked shyly. "What?"

Brett commented as he pats the younger man on the shoulder. "Well done."

Harry just waived off the praise with a smile. "Just doing my job, sir."

The smiles were on their faces a few moments before Sara, who was looking at a computer tablet, spoke. "Ok, according to where Malcolm's car was found, it doesn't look like there is much there."

Then Brett, who has lived in this part of California for most of his life, walked up to her and pointed at another spot on it. "But not too far from an empty warehouse."

They all looked at one another before looking at Harry, and he nodded with a smile. "Let's get our boy home, yo."

They couldn't help but chuckle a little as Sara and Harry raced to her vehicle while Brett and Carly raced to theirs, their spirits even higher, at least about Malcolm's part of the case, than before.

* * *

After they got there and out of the vehicles, everybody could feel their adrenaline pumping, wanting to rush right in there to save their friend/colleague, if he was truly in there, but as they got closer to the building, Harry felt deep down in his gut that something wasn't right, so he spoke up. "Wait!" They looked at him with concern before he continued. "Something feels off."

Sara then asked. "What do you mean?"

"Why bring him out here? I mean he could have left Malcolm in an alleyway, a bench, a park, hell not even move him out of his apartment at all. So, why bring him all the way out here?"

Carly then got into the conversation. "You think there is more than just finding him?"

"It feels too easy to just walk in there."

Sara nodded in agreement as she really thought of it, before she asked. "And what is Spencer's specialty, again?"

While CSI's were typically trained on all aspects of forensic science, there was an area where one might specialize more of as they continue on their careers.

Brett wasted no time in answering, being the one to know Spencer the best in the professional world, even putting him under his wing when the younger man first joined the lab, until he was promoted the director's position.

"Explosives." Everybody stood down, even Brett took a hold of Carly's arm and moved her until she was behind him before he continued. "I do know a guy, and he does owe me a favor."

This time Harry looked at Sara before she nodded. "Then call him, call anybody you have to."

Brett nodded as they turned their backs towards the warehouse and headed for the vehicles so they would be further away if there was explosives, and if there was and Malcolm was in there, they really hoped it didn't go off.

* * *

Not much time later the bomb squad showed up with their gear on and they started on their task, eventually finding out that Malcolm was in there, which when they did, Sara spoke with determination. "I'm going in there with them."

Brett looked at her. "Sara..."

But she cuts him off with a hard look. "That's my man in there, not yours. I'm the supervisor, not you, so not your call."

Brett held his hands up in surrender as he looked at his long time friend and nodded, knowing there was no way any of them was going to stop her, so the other man looked at Sara and a nod. "Ok, but stay behind us and listen to everything we say."

Sara nodded as she started following the three bomb experts inside the building, which was clear of any explosives until they reached Malcolm, who was sitting in a chair with his head to the side as his eyes were closed, and as they got closer and saw with their lights shinning on him, his chest was still moving, so they could tell he was at least still alive, and that made Sara sigh in relief.

Sara was told to stop a little ways from the chair as the bomb experts got closer, and after they kneeled down to check what they were dealing with, the leader spoke. "It isn't the most elaborate one we've seen, but it could definitely cause damage if it were to go off, so let's just hope he doesn't wake up and freak out, or we are all toast."

As they started on their work, Sara watched Malcolm like a hawk, making sure he didn't do any sudden movements, and just as she thought that, she saw a movement other than his chest, his eyes started to open and she quickly spoke. "Malcolm, don't make any sudden movements. I'll explain later, but please don't move, ok?" While he couldn't speak because there was tape to his mouth, he did do a subtle nod, indicating he heard her, before she continued. "Good."

He slowly opened his eyes and saw that other than a few flash lights on, one being on his chest, he was in an otherwise dark room, tied to a chair with a bomb squad trying to defuse a bomb that was attached to the bottom of it, and to say that he was completely confused was an understatement, he had no idea what was going on or how he ended up here of all places.

While the situation was intense for all the parties that were in or around the building, the job was done without any causalities, and once Malcolm was free to stand up, he did, taking him a second or two to regain his balance before him and Sara walked out the building without a backwards glance.

When he reached the other team members, Harry was the first to greet him with a smile and a hug. "Welcome back man."

Malcolm, although still a little shocked on what was going on, hugged the other man in return, then after they pulled back, he replied in a serious tone. "I didn't know I was missing."

Harry than asked. "Wait a minute, you don't remember anything?"

Malcolm shook his head and replied. "No, as hard as I tried to think in there, I don't remember much of what happened after shift, so what did I miss and how did I get here?"

* * *

AN: Don't want to miss next chapter. Thanks for reading and please review.


	6. A New Danger

AN: Thanks again for the support, here is the next chapter. Warning: A few questionable word(s)

* * *

Chapter 6: A New Danger

At the hospital

After they admitted Malcolm to the hospital to be checked out, and he was set up in a room, he asked again what had happened, so Sara, who was the only one in the room right now, finally told him everything, what they knew and what they thought they knew. When she was done, Malcolm looked shocked, almost sick even, as he asked with his voice breaking. "Warrick was shot, and you believe Spencer is the one to have done it, all of this?"

"Yes, but once again we don't have proof, the bastard seems to be one step ahead of us."

Malcolm moved his hands in a fist as he shouted. "Which I could help with that, but dammit I don't remember anything!"

His blood pressure was spiking as was his heart rate, so Sara spoke softly. "And giving yourself a heart attack won't help anybody, so please calm down."

He gave her a slight glare as he continued. "He's messing with my damn family, so of course I'm not going to calm down."

After losing his parents at the age of 18 from a drunk driver, he never really felt he had a family anymore, and while he began to feel that again a little when he first joined the lab, especially after getting to know Andrea, it felt even bigger when Sara, then Warrick, joined the lab, even when Carly joined the same shift. He cared for them all, and didn't like it when someone messed with them.

Before Sara could speak, Andrea, who had heard the commotion from out in the hall, stepped in the doorway and spoke softly. "Please, listen to her."

At the sound of her voice, Malcolm turned his head towards the doorway in shock. "Andrea? Are you ok? What are you doing here? I thought you would still be in Seattle."

She smirked slightly as she walked into the room. "Well, least you remember who I am, and where I went."

He sighed and shook his head. "That's not what I'm having problems with, it's the other moments I'm missing."

The other woman stopped next to his bed and answered his questions. "All things considering, I'm doing ok, and after I found out what happened, I couldn't stay away. I had to make sure my baby's uncle was going to be ok."

He sighed a head with a head nod. "I get it, and I'll be ok." He then turned his head to look at Sara sadly. "I just wish I could be better help."

Sara looked at him reassuringly as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "I know you do, but forcing it won't. Why don't you rest, maybe something will come to you."

Since that was about their only option at this point, Malcolm nodded again with another sigh. "Yes ma'am."

Sara nodded as she removed her hand. "And I'll let you do that."

She then looked at Andrea, and she nodded. "I'll stick around here to make sure he does."

Sara nodded again with a smile before walking out of the room, and as she was walking down the hall, Harry and Luke walked past her with some food for Malcolm.

Once she made it to the elevator, she walked in, sighed as she hit the button that would take her to the next floor, then after it stopped, she stepped out and saw Grissom standing in front of the window with a concerned look on his face, so she took a breath before she whispered. "Hey."

He turned his head towards her, and while the sparkle wasn't fully there, which considering all that was happening she wasn't that surprised, it was still enough to make her heart skip a beat as they walked towards one another and hugged like they haven't seen one another in weeks, and to them it felt like it.

He kissed her head a moment later and whispered. "Hey, back."

They held one another for a few more moments before she asked as they were pulling back. "Where is Catherine?"

He cleared his throat before replying. "They are allowing a few visitors at a time, so she's in his room. I wanted to give them a little time alone."

While she nodded in understanding the elevator doors opened before Carly and Brett joined the two of them with some water bottles, and after Sara and Grissom thanked them they all sat down in the small waiting area, taking drinks before Carly asked. "How is Malcolm?"

Sara sighed. "Frustrated, not that I really blame him though."

They nodded in agreement before she asked again. "And is there anything else we can do?"

"Outside of going through Malcolm's car..."

Brett stood up, cutting her off. "I'm on it."

But before he walked away, Carly grabbed her husband's hand. "Babe, don't you want some rest?"

Brett shook his head. "I can't, not right now."

She nodded with a sigh, knowing she wasn't going to stop him. "Ok, but make sure you take a break when you need it."

He nodded, and after a soft kiss with his wife, Sara told him to keep her informed while he walked into the elevator with a nod.

As the door closed, Sara asked Carly. "How is he really doing?"

Carly took a breath before she answered with worry. "Harder than he's letting on. He practically taught Spencer everything he knew." She then shuddered as she finished. "It's kind of scary you know, one day you become a boss, you teach your team  
everything you have learned and to the best of your ability, never known if they'll ever use it for good or evil."

Sara nodded in agreement. "True."

Then Grissom comes in with a carrying tone. "And while it is true, it is also, like most things in life, worth the risk, because with every bad seed there could be, comes with a Catherine, a Nick, a Warrick, a Carly (Which she just smiled as he said her name, knowing he did have a little influence in her career when she was in Vegas), a Greg." Then he looked at Sara as he took her hand. "And last but certainly not least, a Sara. There maybe a bad seed in every few bunches, but the good ones outweigh them all."

Sara nodded in agreement again. "Also true, we can't stop doing our jobs because a few people will use their skills for evil, we just have to trust that in the end everything will work out."

After the head nods again, it became silent for a few minutes then Grissom asked Carly how the family was doing, and she was happy to change the subject to happier news.

Eventually their conversation turned to other topics, and before they knew it another hour and a half went by, then when it was late, or early, depending on ones perspective, Sara and Grissom thought it was best to go home and relieve Stephanie from her duty. Plus, they were tried, so after Carly reassured them that she'll stick around for Catherine, the Grissom's left the hospital, deciding to only take his vehicle since Grissom didn't want her driving alone seeing how exhausted she looked.

* * *

When they made it home and walked inside, Sara turned the alarm off as Grissom walked to the couch to wake up the young, slim, 5'6, blond hair, blue eyed woman after turning on a lamp that was on the end table, and after a few light shoulder shakes, she woke up with a gasp, making him flinch back a little. "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Grissom."

Grissom just waved it off with a smile. "It's ok, I am sorry you had to stay so long."

Before she could speak, Sara, who had came from the kitchen after grabbing money from a jar they were saving up for a family vacation, handed her the money. "And thank you for all that you have done."

Stephanie looked at the 200 dollars in Sara's hand and shook her head. "I'm sorry Mrs. Grissom, but I can't..."

But Sara cuts her off. "Please, you've done more than what should have been asked of you this evening/morning, and seeing as it is 3 O'clock in the morning, I don't think you'll want to do much baby/kid sitting later, so I'll feel bad if you lose a days worth of money because of us."

After receiving a reassuring look from Grissom, Stephanie nodded with a smile as she took the money from the older woman. "I guess you have a point, I'm just thankful it is the weekend."

They chuckled as the young girl stood up, then after gathering her reading and text books and placing them in her bag, she was thanked by Sara one more time before heading towards the door as Grissom followed her out so he could take her home. Even though she lived only three houses down, he wanted to make sure she got home safely.

As the door clicked shut, Sara headed up to the second floor, checked in on all the kids, which included the Brown children, before sitting down in the hall, placing her head in her hands and finally letting out all of her emotions she had inside. She was interrupted momentarily a few seconds later when Max came up to her whining a bit because he was feeling her pain and wanted to comfort her, so she just wrapped her arms around their dog, brought him as close to her as she could and held on to him as she let out a few more tears.

Not much time after that had passed before Grissom joined her on the floor, and he just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her as close to him as he could with a deep sigh, wishing he could make everything right for everybody, and not feel as useless as he actually felt.

* * *

Eventually Sara and Grissom did mange to pick themselves off the floor and ended up in their bed, where they fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, but four hours later the sound of Isabella crying, and the rest of the kids yelling at one another for the other to be quite, woke them up, and when their eyes reached one another, Sara spoke softly. "I think coffee is gong to be our new best friend today."

He nodded, but before she moved to get out of bed, Grissom took her arm and asked. "Sara..."

But she cuts him off, knowing what he was going to ask. "Under the circumstances I'm ok. I just needed to have that little moment earlier."

While he had seen his wife vulnerable before, there was only one time that scared him to his core more than others, the time after her abduction, she looked utterly defeated, and he didn't want her to go through that again.

Seeing the truth in her eyes, he nodded. "Ok, and you're welcome to have those moments, but if you need me to help you in..."

Sara cuts him off this time as she cups cheek. "You do help me, just by being there for me, so thank you."

He cleared his throat with a nod. "You're welcome."

She ran a thumb up and down his slightly stubbled cheek. "I just hope I'm doing enough for you, because while knowing what Warrick is going through hurts me, I can only imagine how it's doing to you, I know you see him as a son."

Grissom tried to shake it off as he moved to sit up in bed. "I'm fine." He cleared his throat before finishing. "The uh, the kids need us."

As he moved to get out of bed, Sara spoke in a frustrated tone, which it wasn't all about him, but the lack of sleep she got mixed with what they were all dealing with. "Now come on, Griss, don't do this, you know you can tell me anything, or don't have to hide anything from me, especially how you're feeling."

Sitting on the side of the bed, with his back towards hers, he lowered his head and sighed, hearing her tone of voice, but also knowing it wasn't only about him. "I know, I'm sorry." She moved so she could wrap an arm around his shoulders and cupped his cheek before turning his face towards hers, now seeing the deep sadness in them, almost making her want to cry again as he spoke softly. "I just want him to get through this. I can't lose anybody else right now."

Sara nodded with a sniffle before kissing his temple and bringing him closer to her so they could share a hug of comfort. "I know babe, I know. But look what he had to go through as he was growing up, and all that he has done to get here. He's a fighter, and like what Carly said last night, he has a lot to fight for."

He nodded after a sniffle. "Yeah he does."

She kissed his head and continued to hold him for a few more seconds before they calmed themselves down and got out of bed so they could take care of the kid's needs, like breakfast.

* * *

As their breakfasts were being eaten, Eli asked. "Can I see daddy today?" Cassandra also asked that question, while Rick shouted. "I want my Daddy!?"

Sara and Grissom looked at one another before Grissom looked at the children. "I'll call your mom and see what she says, ok?"

After they nodded, Grissom took his phone and headed out of the room while they finished up their meals, and by the time he came back into the room, holding his phone out, the dishes were being put in the sink, and said. "Your mom wants to speak to you guys."

Cassandra rushed to the phone first, while Eli went to their brother to help him down from the chair before the three of them walked out of the room while Grissom moved towards his wife. "I'm going to take a quick shower before taking the kids home so they can change, then we can leave for the hospital once you and our kids are ready."  
Sara nodded then husband and wife shared a quick kiss before he walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

Over an hour later, once everybody was cleaned/changed and ready to go, the Grissom family and the Brown children got into the Grissom's newly purchased mini van, which they only drive when they have the extra children, before Grissom drove them to the hospital, then when they arrived there, and had stepped out of the elevator on the correct floor, Cassandra spoke with excitement as she saw a familiar face at the nurse's desk. "Lindsey!" Then when Lindsey and her companion, who was her best friend and her boyfriend's adoptive sister, Nicole, turned to look at them, Cassandra got even more excited. "Nicole!"

Both Lindsey and Nicole smiled before Lindsey opened her arms out for her younger sister, and not a moment too soon she was in her arms and started sniffling. Eventually Eli and Rick made it over to their sister so she could greet them properly.

After the siblings reunited for a few moments, Lindsey handed Rick to Nicole before walking towards Sara and Grissom, and once she greeted the Grissom kids, Grissom wrapped the young woman in his arms before she started sniffling, trying to hold back from crying again, and still scared for not only her stepfather, but her mom as well, because if she lost Warrick, Lindsey didn't know if her mother could ever recover from it. She remembered how hard her mother took to losing her father, but she had a strong feeling this loss would be even worse.

A few moments later, Lindsey pulls back, shaking her head. "I'm sorry."

But Grissom smiled as he cupped the young woman's cheek. "You have nothing to apologize for, and despite the circumstances that brought you here, I'm glad to see you."

Lindsey nodded with a small smile. "Me too, uncle Gil." She then looked at Sara with a nod. "You too aunt Sara."

After Sara nodded with the same sentiment, Lindsey cleared her throat and looked back at her friend. "You guys remember, Nicole?"

Once they greeted one another with hello's and head nods, Lindsey, Nicole, and the siblings headed for Warrick's hospital room to see their mother, and as they watched them walk away, Grissom sighed as he wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders. "Least now Catherine will have even more support."

Sara nodded in agreement. "And the greatest support there is, her children."

Grissom just nodded as he held his family close.

* * *

Not long after Lindsey, Nicole and the Brown kids had left the area, Malcolm, who was officially discharged from the hospital since he was in perfect health, well outside of that little piece of memory loss, and Andrea, had joined them after leaving Catherine, which they had been there after relieving Carly a few hours ago. Then about another 25 minutes the rest of the group, who looked just as tired as Sara and Grissom, joined them.

Eventually they, well outside of the Grissom's, claimed they were hungry, but since Sara wanted some coffee and she had promised William a cinnamon roll, she and William followed them down to the cafeteria while Grissom, and Isabella, who wanted to stay with her daddy, stayed behind so they could go see Catherine.

Once they all had everything they needed, they scooted two tables together and sat down, and since they had a child with them they stayed away from talking about anything work related, but a look said a thousand words, and since Sara didn't get reported on anything new by Brett, she knew they weren't anywhere near close on finding Spencer, even with the now APB on him, it seemed the man have disappeared without a trace.

Sara mentally shook her head from those thoughts before Luke did ask one thing about work. "So, uh, should we be worried that it's almost the start of shift and we are all here?"

Malcolm smirked a little. "What do we have to be worried about, it's not like we are getting fired, our boss is here too."

They all slightly chuckled before Sara spoke after clearing her throat. "The night shift supervisor and the swing shift supervisor called as we were coming to the hospital this morning and informed me that their teams were each willing to take both halves of our shift, so we are excused from work today. Of course we'll have to cover for them for those hours eventually, but..."

Carly then cuts her off with a nod. "Considering what's going on here, and where we should be, it's worth it."

They all looked around the table, and had slight nods with small smiles on their faces before they all go into another round of chatter.

Their breakfast time was passing them by with no major incident, and even William got to talk when Malcolm had asked him if he was excited about starting school, which everybody could see that, especially when his daddy's eye sparkle showed up as the five year old explained in great detail what he was most excited about going to school.  
And while a part of Sara was still really dreading this upcoming milestone for her son, she couldn't be prouder of him, he loved to learn and was excited about something that was important, and now she just hopes his thirst for learning grows as he gets older, but then again if he is anything like his parents, which there is strong evidence to suggest he is, she knew that it wouldn't be a problem.

Once the little boy was done speaking about the subject, he placed his fork down on his plate and looked at his mother. "Mommy, I need to use the restroom."

"Ok, do you need one of us to go in there with you?"

He made the cutest objective noise before shaking his head. "Mommy, I'm five now and going to school soon, I don't need help anymore." He then giggled as he finished. "What, is mommy going to follow me around school when I have to go? That's just crazy, the kids would tease me."

They all chuckled slightly before Luke spoke with a smirk. "The kid has got you there."

Sara moved her hands up in surrender with a smile. "Ok big boy, go ahead, but can you please wipe your sticky hands before you do."

He nodded as he grabbed his napkin and wiped them off the best he could before getting out of his chair, and after about halfway from the table, Sara looked at the guys, and Malcolm, who was in the process of finishing a sip of his orange juice, nodded before swallowing. "I'll go make sure he's ok."

While Sara did want her son to be independent, and proud that he wants to do stuff on his own, she just didn't want him going to restroom alone when they were in an area with a lot people, like a department store, an airport, or where they were now, at least not yet, so if she had to send someone secretly to make sure he's ok, then so be it.

Sara smiled warmly. "Thank you."

He nodded with a smile as he started to stand up, but in the next second things felt like everything had slowed down for Sara when she heard her son's scared voice. "Mommy, help!"

Immediately she stood up and turned around, pulling out her gun a second later, while Brett, Harry and Luke, followed suite with their guns as they all stared at the reason for William's distress, Spencer, who was in a ball-cap and a light stubble on his face, had his arm wrapped around the little boy's shoulders with a gun pointed at him, and as the man saw his ex-team members, he stopped his eyes at Sara and smirked. "I told you this wasn't over."

* * *

AN: Find out what happens next. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	7. Ending on a good note?

AN:: Thanks for the support, here is the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 7: Ending on a good note?

Everybody else that was in the room started screaming and were going to rush out, but Spencer shouted. "Shut up and sit down! No one is leaving."

They all did what the man said before Sara spoke, trying to keep herself from freaking out while seeing her son in that madman's arms. "Please Spencer, you know your issue is with me, not them, just let everybody else go. I'm sure some of these families are here visiting a sick or dying member, do you really want them wasting time down here when they could share their precious time with them?"

That seemed to touch the right cord, so a second later, he nodded. "You have a minute to get everybody out."

Sara then shouted. "Everybody get out of here, that includes you guys."

As the other people, including cafeteria workers, were rushing towards the exit of the room, Spencer shouted. "No! Andrea and Malcolm stays."

"Ok, then Harry and Luke, out!"

The guys, who still had their guns pointed at Spencer, shook their heads before Harry spoke. "No way boss."

Brett's hard voice was heard next. "Now! And that means you too Carly."

Carly looks at her husband. "Brett..."

But he cuts her off with a pleading look. "Please, for our children."

Of course he had to play the children card, but with Carly not having her gun, she wasn't going to be much help anyways, so she nodded before looking at Harry and Luke. "Let's go guys."

They were going to disagree again, but with the look that Brett was giving them, they nodded and lowered their guns before the three of them rushed out of the room.

When it was just the select team members, Spencer and William, he smiled. "Happy now?"

Sara shook her head. "I'll be happier if you let my son go too."

Spencer shook his head and looked down at the little boy. "I think your little man is fine right here." As William started to squirm, wanting to get to his mother, his voice gets low and dangerous. "You don't want me to hurt mommy, do you?" The little boy shook his head with tears in his eyes. "Then stay still."

The little boy stopped as Spencer looked at Malcolm before looking at Sara with a surprising look. "I see you found him, and all of you are intact, I guess you are smarter than I gave you credit for."

"You just could never get past your own ego to see anything else."

He smirked. "I guess I never noticed how feisty you can truly get either, I bet your husband must love that side of you." Sara clinched her jaw as her hand twitched, hearing this man bring up her husband, then he continued, almost taunting. "And speaking of husband's, how's Mrs. Brown's? I heard something tragic happened to him."

Before anyone could speak of that, Andrea spoke for the first time, practically in tears, seeing a man she no longer recognized. "This isn't you, Spencer, why are you doing this?"

"Ahh, the woman who stole my heart then threw it back into my face, finally speaks." His voice then gets hard again. "I've been trying to reach you, what have you been doing? Screwing some one else by now? Sure didn't take you very long."

Andrea narrows her eyes. "Of course not, and just like I've been telling you about a million times, I never cheated on you."

He then nodded is head towards Malcolm and spoke sarcastically. "Yeah, sure, and I bet he isn't one of them."

Malcolm shook his head. "Come on man, you know I would never do that, I view her as a sister, and that's it."

He started to chuckle before Brett spoke. "Spencer, what do you want?"

Spencer's eyes then moved to Brett's, who had moved so he was now standing between Sara and Malcolm. "And then there is my ex-boss/mentor, the man who couldn't trust me to do my job, the man who had to hire that thing (He waved his gun towards Sara) to come in and take what was suppose to be mine!"

Brett shook his head. "That isn't true, I did trust you, I just thought I was making the lab better. We all had the same goal, and I thought the more great CSI's that we can get  
the better, and I'm sorry if you felt slighted when you didn't get the promotion."

He laughed sarcastically as he pointed the gun at Brett now. "You're sorry, huh? You're sorry you ruined my career, that since that day every one has looked at me like I'm a failure because they don't think I'm capable of leading a team."

Andrea spoke while sniffling. "You aren't a failure, Spencer. That's what I've been trying to tell you, it's all in your head, you're time would have come, you just needed to be a little more patient."

He then moved the gun towards Andrea, her stomach to be exact, which made Sara nervous and Malcolm was going to move to stand in front of her, but Spencer spoke. "Don't even think about it." Making the other man stand still as he spoke again. "But my time won't come anymore, huh?" He then did a humorless chuckle before finishing. "I guess it's just as well, we all know I'm not getting out this now, so what do you say, we go out together, just like it's meant to be?"

As his finger was moving to the trigger, Andrea cried out as she covered her stomach with both arms. "Please don't do this!"

He hesitated with a shocked look on his face, seeing her action and knowing what was implied, which caused his other arm to slack a little, giving William an opportunity to slip out of his arms and started to run towards his mother, but on instinct Spencer moved the gun towards the little boy so Sara shouted. "Get down now William and cover your ears!"

The boy did was instructed without a second thought as two gunshots went off before Spencer fell to the ground, instantly killed, two bullets hitting him in the right spot in the chest.

Malcolm comforted a crying Andrea, while Sara immediately rushed towards her son, removing his hands from his ears and asked in a worried tone when she was near him. "Baby, you ok?"

While still laying on the ground, the little boy lifted his head up and nodded before he whispered. "But mommy, I had an accident."

Despite the intense situation they had just been through, Sara couldn't help but laugh at what her son said while she moved him so he was now in her arms. "It's ok baby, we all have accidents every now and then." Then she breathed deeply while tightening her hold on him a little more, thankful he was ok.

A few moments passed before Sara kissed his head and whispered. "I'm going to carry you out, but close your eyes, ok?"

He just nodded and closed his eyes while she moved to stand up, then after picking him up, which honestly was getting harder to do these days with her little man growing up, she walked them towards the exit of the room, where not surprisingly Grissom was standing right out in the hall.

Husband and wife share a look before she whispered to her son. "There is daddy." William turned around to look at his father and he smiled. "Daddy!"

Grissom smiled in return, his heart still racing from when Carly came into Catherine's room and told him what was going on, while holding out his arms.

Sara moved them closer, and while their son was transferred to his father's arms, he whispered. "Daddy, I had an accident."

Grissom just chuckled as he wrapped his son in his arms, saying the same thing his mom said, because he didn't care about that at the moment, he just wanted to hold on to their son.

After a moment, Sara whispered to Grissom. "I have to go back in there."

"Ok."

As they pulled back from a warm, family hug, Carly rushed towards them. "Is Brett ok?"

Sara looked into Carly's eyes and replied. "Spencer's dead."

Carly gasped a little as she asked. "And is he the one..."

Sara shook her head. "I don't know, but he's going to need you."

Carly nodded before rushing into the cafeteria, and after a look between Sara and Grissom, Sara walked back into the room to be with her team members.

* * *

Eventually the police showed up and asked their questions, and once they were free to go, the CSI's left the room except for Brett, Sara, and Andrea, and as they looked at the still body of Spencer, Brett spoke after clearing his throat. "Andrea, I'm..."

But she cuts him off. "It's ok, I don't blame you." Then she looked over at Sara. "Or you, you were protecting your brave little man, and I'm never going to fault you for that. I would have done the same thing." She looked down at her ex and shook her head. "No, this is all him, he got into this situation on his own. I'm just sorry it had to end like this." Both Sara and Brett nodded before Andrea spoke after clearing her throat. "Can I have a minute alone?"

They both placed their hands on her shoulder and squeezed lightly before the two of them headed for the exit, and as they got there and into the elevator, Sara cleared her throat and spoke. "Brett, I know what you did had to be one of the hardest..."

Brett cuts her off. "It was, and I never expected it to end like this, but not only was there a child in danger, but it was yours and I couldn't stand by watching you go through a heartbreak if something were to happen to him. And I know despite on who it was, it couldn't have been easy on you either."

Sara shook her head before replying in a hard tone. "Like you said, my son was in danger, and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for him."

Brett nodded while the elevator doors opened to the correct floor, then as they stepped out of them, Sara said something else. "You know I can't help but feel that you've had my back from the moment I got here, why is that? Is there something you're not telling me?"

He smirked. "Like what, a secret crush?"

Sara chuckled while shaking her head. "No." She stopped for a second and raised an eyebrow. "No, right?'

He chuckled as he placed his hand one her shoulder while shaking his head. "No, believe me I don't, or ever did, no offense." Sara waved it off, knowing how much Brett loved Carly, before he continued. "I don't know if you expect me to give you this big grand reasoning behind it, but there isn't, the only thing I can say is that it's just the simple fact that you were friends with Carly, you treated her with respect before and after you found out her story." He then smirked as he finished. "Plus, she did speak very highly of you and I wanted to see if you were worth the hype."

"Well?"

He nodded with a smile. "Every bit and then some. Like I've said before, you deserve every praise you get." His voice then changes to a more serious tone. "I stand by with my decision on making you supervisor, and I would make it every time."

Sara nodded then surprised him when she gave him a hug. "Thank you for everything you've done."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and replied. "You're welcome."

While in the hug, Carly, who was joined with Grissom, spoke with a smirk. "Are we uh, interrupting something?"

Both Sara and Brett pulled back from the hug, and Sara spoke with a smile as she headed towards her husband. "Nope, he's all yours."

"Good." Carly smiled as she walked towards her husband, getting into his arms the second she could, then after a moment, she continued after clearing her throat. "We're going to head back up to Washington, and we'll be back in town Monday."

They left their 6 month old son, Andrew II, named after his grandfather, with Courtney so he could be around family members instead of a sitter since they knew their main focus would be work.

Sara nodded in understanding. "Ok, I'll see you back at work on Tuesday, then."

After around of nods, handshakes and hugs, the Bolden's headed for the elevator, leaving the Grissom's alone.

Grissom cupped her cheek and asked with worry. "You ok, honey?"

Sara took a breath before speaking softly. "You remember that case that we had in Vegas during my first year there, the one with the man on the plane?"

Grissom's mind was as sharp as ever, recapping a case they had 15 years ago before Sara nodded with a slight smile. "Yeah that one, and at the end, I said that I could never kill anyone, I just couldn't see it happening."

"It was a different time in your life."

Sara nodded before she finished. "Then Catherine comes in the room and said she could, especially when it involved the safety of her child, and in that cafeteria, I had the feeling that she said. I mean when our children came into this world, I always knew that I would do anything to anybody who put their safety at risk, but to actually do it..."

Sara trailed off as she looked down with a few tears in her eyes, and he lifted her chin up and wiped her tears away before continuing softly. "You did what you had to, honey. No one is going to fault you for protecting our child." He then got emotional as he whispered. "Thank you for protecting him."

Sara nodded with a sniffle. "Of course, and I would do it all again if I have to."

They wiped each other's tears off their cheeks before they got into each other's arms for a hug, for comfort and strength.

* * *

Throughout the rest of the morning and afternoon the team members took turns being in the room with Catherine, or at home getting their rest, and at lunch time the Grissom's paid lunch for Catherine, Lindsey, Nicole, and the rest of the Brown children, then when it became dinner time, the team, plus Andrea, Nicole, Lindsey and her siblings met at a Chinese restaurant. The invitation was offered to Catherine, but like the majority of last night and today, she just didn't feel right leaving Warrick's side so Lindsey promised her she'll get her something to go.

As they were enjoying their meal, Sara stopped the chatter from around the table and lifted up her glass of beer. "To Harry, who stepped up in a huge way for us."

Malcolm then added. "And saved my butt, literally."

They all replied 'to Harry' as he smiled and waved off the praise. "I just did what I had to do, what was asked of me."

Sara then replied. "But you did it well, and I appreciate it, so thank you." Harry just nodded with another smile as Sara looked at Luke. "And you too."

Luke just shyly smiled with a nod, and after one more round of 'here' 'here' they raised their drinks up and took a sip before they continued on with their meal with small talk.

After diner was done and the bill split up and paid for, the team and Andrea said their 'goodnights' to everyone before leaving, and after Grissom asked Lindsey to keep them informed, the Grissom's headed home while Lindsey, Nicole and the Brown children headed back towards the hospital.

Once the Grissom's made it home, it was bath time for their children before the whole family, Max included, cuddled on their bed and watched a few family movies until the young ones fell asleep, and when they did, Grissom placed the volume on mute before him and his wife just watched them sleeping, their hearts filling with more love for them than ever before.

* * *

Later that night

Hours went by before Nicole finally took the kids home, leaving only Lindsey and Catherine in Warrick's room, and after a struggle, Catherine finally fell asleep in the chair. It wasn't what Lindsey wanted for her mother, but considering she didn't want to leave Warrick's side, she'll take what she could get, least she was getting some rest.

Lindsey sighed as she looked at her mother before looking at her stepdad, the only sound was from the beeping machines that was attached to him, then she took his hand and started to speak with emotion. "Hi dad, I get why you need this rest, but I wish you'll come back to us soon because we still need you, you see I already lost one father, and I'm not ready to lose another one." She wiped a few tears off her cheek before she continued. "One day I'm going to get married and I need you to walk me down the aisle, and when you become a grandpa, you can spoil your grandchildren rotten. Cassandra is going to need that protective father when she starts dating, eyeing every suitor that comes to the door, thinking he's not the right one for her. Eli and Rick need their father so you can see they become the men that you always thought they would." She looked at her mother again before looking at Warrick and finishing. "And mom, she still needs you the most, as bad as she took losing my other dad, losing you would be worse for her. She loves you like I've never seen before, not to mention the hole the rest of the 'family' will feel if they lost you, so please, dad, come back to us." She closed her eyes as she kissed his hand, whispering. "I love you, so much."

A few moments later she not only heard the machines making a different noise, but she felt his hand squeezing hers, she gasped as she asked. "Dad?"

Another moment passed and he started moaning while the room began to fill up with nurses and doctors, waking Catherine up in the process, who looked shocked at the commotion happening in the room, so she asked her daughter. "Lindsey, what's going on?"

* * *

The buzzing of Grissom's phone interrupted their time of watching their children, but he turned and grabbed his phone from his night stand before handing it to Sara since he didn't have his glasses nearby, and after Sara took it from him, she gasped as she read the text, so he whispered with worry. "Honey, what is it?"

She smiled at her husband with tears in her eyes. "He's awake, Warrick is awake, he's going to be just fine." Grissom smiled in return with tears in his eyes as she continued. "I'll text them back saying we'll see them tomorrow morning before shift, and I better let everybody else know."

After Grissom nodded, Sara text Lindsey back before grabbing her phone and sent a mass text to everyone else so they'll all know the good news at the same time, happy that it ended better than they could have hoped for.

* * *

AN: More to come, thanks for reading, and please review.


	8. Making a Decision

AN: Warning: Implies/suggestive adult behavior. Thanks for the reviews, here is the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 8: Making a Decision

Next Morning

Like the night before they didn't get much sleep, but this time it was for a different reason, they were just too excited to see Warrick, so when morning came and their children woke up, the Grissoms had a light breakfast before heading towards the hospital in their separate vehicles, then after arriving there, they headed for Warrick's room, knocking on the door when they got there.

The door opened a second later to see a smiling, and sparkling eyed Catherine, they smiled in return before Catherine moved to the side so they could walk in the room, seeing Warrick, who was sitting up in bed talking on the phone. "Hold on man, Sara and Grissom are here, I'm going to put you on speaker." As Sara, Grissom and the kids walked further in the room, Warrick spoke again. "Ok Nick, you wanted to share some news with us?"

Nick cleared his throat before replying. "Yeah, uh guys, guess what? I'm getting married!"

They all cheered and said congratulations before Sara asked with a smile. "When's the big day? And we better be invited!"

Nick chuckled before replying. "Of course you're invited, you all are, and as for the big day, I'm not sure yet, we still have to discuss that part."

Grissom than spoke. "Just let us know when you do."

"I will, and Warrick, man, I'm glad you are ok."

Warrick cleared his throat before replying with a nod, even though the other man couldn't see him. "Me too, thanks for calling."

"You're welcome, I just wish I could have been there for you, for all of you."

"I know man, but under the circumstances we just have to make do with what we can."

"True." Then after a moment's pause he continued. "I should let you go, talk to you all later."

"Alright man, bye."

"Bye, Bye everybody."

Once everybody said bye back, Warrick hung up the phone, and after Catherine took it from him, he greeted the Grissom kids with a smile before looking at Grissom first.

He cleared his throat and started to speak with emotion. "Griss, I..."

But Grissom cuts him off as he held out his hand with a smile as he tried to hide his own tears. "Welcome back, Rick, we've missed you."

Warrick nodded with a smile as he shook the other man's hand. "It's good to be back, and thank you for looking after my family."

Grissom nodded while they released hands. "Honored, but glad to be relieved of full time duty."

After Warrick nodded again with a smile and slight chuckle, him and Sara have eye contract, which she started to have tears in her eyes, so Grissom spoke. "Why don't we give them a moment?"

Catherine looked at Warrick, and he nodded with a smile as he took her hand. "I'll be ok babe, and why don't you get some fresh air, something tells me you didn't get much of that the last few days."

She shyly smiled before replying. "Warrick, I..."

But he cuts her off. "I get it, but like I said I'm ok, I'm not going anywhere."

Catherine took a breath with a nod. "Ok, I guess I could use some air."

After both husbands and wives shared a hug and kiss, Grissom, Catherine and the children left the room, and once the door clicked shut, Warrick tugged on Sara's arm so she could get closer and they shared a hug, while Sara couldn't stop the sobs that were coming. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, I should have..."

"We were off the clock, Sara. It's not your job to follow me around to make sure I'm safe 24/7."

Sara sniffled. "Well, maybe it should be now."

He chuckled slightly before asking in a more serious tone. "I thought the threat is gone?"

Sara nodded as she moved to release him. "Yes, but there could always be another, did you forget what we do?"

"Nope, and you could be right, but I'm not living in fear. I want to live my life on how I see fit, I don't need a bodyguard 24/7."

Sara then smirked. "Did you convince Catherine of that?"

He chuckled before wincing a little, still feeling a little pain, before replying. "I'm working on it."

Sara chuckled in return. "I was joking."

"Well, I'm not."

"You know she's only suggesting something our husbands would have suggested if the roles would have been reversed."

She was challenging Warrick to disagree with that statement, but surprisingly he didn't, in fact he straight out admitted it. "You're probably right, but we all know the answer would have been the same." Sara sighed with a nod, she couldn't deny that while Warrick took her hand and continued. "Hey, I'm ok, and thank you for being there for me."

She shuddered, thinking of that night, then shook her head. "And if I wouldn't have stopped for piz..."

Warrick cuts her off. "I probably would have still ended up in the hospital." He squeezed her hand as he continued. "Do you remember our 'what if' talk and how it would make you go crazy trying to think about them?"

Sara remembered ever second of that day as she nodded. "Yes, and the answer to your question that I didn't get to answer is also yes. I believe 100% that leaving Vegas saved my life, in more ways than one." She paused before finishing with a slight smirk. "Now, I would ask you the same question, but seeing where you are now..."

She trails off before Warrick nodded, thinking of those once in a year kind of dream's Catherine had. "Even though I still ended up in here, yes I believe it saved my life."

Sara raised an eyebrow as she asked. "What do you mean 'still ended up here?''"

He waved off her question with a smile. "It doesn't matter, whether it was inevitable or not, the important thing is I fought through it and won."

"And that we are very grateful for."

After another round of smiling and hugging, the door opened and Catherine spoke. "Sorry to interrupt, but there are a few children who want to see their father."

Warrick's eyes get wide with excitement, wanting to see his children as much as they wanted to see him. "Bring them all in."

As the Brown children, plus Lindsey came into the room, Sara squeezed his hand. "I should head out anyways, but we'll talk later."

"You got it, take care Sara."

"You too."

After she released his hand, she passed the kids and headed towards the door, giving Catherine a hug and smile then walked out and joined her family out in the waiting area so she could give them all a kiss goodbye before she headed for the lab, feeling better about things than she had in the past few days, and ready to get their lives back on track.

* * *

Two days later

While there had been no major cases to deal with, crime still seemed to pick up just as her team was almost at full strength again, so that meant more paperwork, and since she was still in catch-up mode from before, she sighed as she signed off a case before putting it in the done pile. She then looked at the medium sized stack she had on the unfinished side as she places her pin down and stretches before taking a sip of her coffee, and just as she was starting right back at it, there was a knock on the door.

She smiled as she said. "Come in."

A few seconds later the door opened and in came Brett, seeing the smile on her face while looking at the stack of files on the unfinished side, he asked with a smirk, happy that wasn't part of his job anymore. "Need a break?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "I shouldn't, but yes, please. What can I do for you?"

He closed the door and walked towards her desk before clearing his throat and handing her a piece of paper.

She took it from him with a look of curiosity, then after looking at it she became slightly shocked as she looked up at him. "You're officially retiring?" After he nodded, Sara asked. "If you don't mind me asking, is this because of..."

Knowing where she was going with that, he replied before she could finish, really being honest with her. "I would be lying if I didn't say that was a small factor in my decision, but honestly I have been contemplating this move for months now." He looked around the office, an office that use to be his when he was the supervisor, and sighed before looking at Sara again. "It's time I finally let go of this lab, I'm ready to move on and find my next passion, well besides my family of course." Sara nodded in understanding before he continued after a sigh. "I'm just sorry if this puts you in a tough..."

This time she cuts him off. "Don't be, there comes a time when you know you have to hang it up, I respect your decision. Although, I'm not going to lie, the extra help was great."

"You guys will be fine." Brett than smirked. "Besides, you don't need an old man still roaming the halls."

Sara chuckled before she raised an eyebrow. "You better not let your wife hear that 'old man' bit, and better yet don't let my husband hear that either, seeing as he is only a year younger than you."

Brett nodded with a smile. "Duly noted." He does one more sigh before holding out his hand. "It's been a pleasure, Mrs. Grissom."

Sara stood up and shook the older man's hand. "Yes it has, Mr. Bolden." After they released hands, she asked. "When are you going to tell the others?"

"Probably at the end of the week, I still have to finish up a few cases."

Sara nodded before asking. "Ok, drinks later?"

"Sure, but let's make it low-key, just the four of us?"

"You got it."

As he turned around to leave, Sara remembered something, so she picked up the file that was off to the side and said. "Oh wait, before you go I have Spencer's autopsy report."

He turned to look at her again and asked. "Does it show who had the killing shot?"

"I would assume so, but I haven't looked at it. I thought you might want to first."

Brett took the file from her a moment later, looked down at it, placed his other hand on it, then a second later, shook his head and handed her the file again. "I don't need to know, it was a justified shot, and as hard as it was to make, I would do it again. Thanks for letting me know." Sara nodded as she took the file from him before he finished. "I'll talk to you later."

After Sara nodded one more time, Brett turned and walked out while Sara sat back down in her chair. She looked at the file in her hand for a few moments before she shook her head and placed it back on her desk, also not needing to know, like what Brett said, she felt justified on doing it, and she would do it again, especially if it involved her child.

Sara took a breath before she continued on with her paperwork, sad that the lab will be losing one of the greatest CSI's who worked here, but also happy for him, knowing he'll have more time to spend with his family, particularly his sixth month old son.

* * *

Later that evening

After having drinks with the Boldens, Grissom and Sara headed home, and while Sara greeted her children, who were in the living room watching a kids movie, Grissom paid Stephanie and thanked her, even asked if she wanted a ride home, which she declined with a smile and said to enjoy the rest of their evening, which he reciprocated that sentiment before closing the door, then he joined his family in the living room.

Eventually it became that time of the night, getting their kids ready for bed, so after bath time, Sara got William ready for bed while Grissom got Isabella ready, who fell asleep after only a few pages of story time, so he headed for the master bedroom to set up something for his wife, knowing she probably needed it. And by the time Sara had walked into the master bedroom, Grissom came out of the bathroom, cracking the door before asking in concern, knowing it took her longer than usual to get their son to sleep. "Is he ok?"

Sara nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I think he just wanted a little extra mommy time." She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Not that I blame him, the weekend was a little rough on all of us."

Grissom nodded. "Yeah, it wasn't really the best of weekends, was it?"

She shook her head, and after a shared kiss they held onto one another in a hug, then a moment later, she asked, looking at the cracked bathroom door. "So, what's going on in there?"

Grissom smirked as he ran a hand up and down her back. "I guess there is only one way to find out."

She pulls back with her eyes sparkling. "You know you can just tell me."

He moved his hand to cup her cheek. "True, but then that what would be the purpose of the surprise?"

She moved her hands to the buttons on his shirt and asked. "Will I like the surprise?"

"It's worked in the past."

She then raised an eyebrow as she asked with a smile, her eyes still sparking. "Oh, and what exactly are you trying to accomplish, Dr. Grissom?"

His tone filled with love and compassion when he answered. "Just trying to make my wife feel as relaxed as possible, even if it's only for a few hours, after the weekend she had."

She sighed. "It wasn't only hard on me."

He ran his thumb up and down her cheek as he spoke softly. "I know, but right now it's about you, and giving what you need."

She shook her head a moment later as she started to unbutton his shirt. "No, I want this to be about us, what we need."

He smiled in return. "Yeah?"

She nodded as she finished with the buttons on his shirt before taking his hand and leading him towards the bathroom. "Come on bug man, let's enjoy your surprise together."

* * *

After enjoying their candlelit, relaxing, bubble bath, Grissom and Sara emerged from the bathroom in their bathrobes, and when they were inside their room, Sara turned to her husband with a smile as she cupped his clean-shaven cheek. "Thank you."

With love in his eyes, he whispered as he placed his hand on top of hers. "You're very welcome, honey."

Once they share a soft kiss, he asked after clearing his throat. "So, how do you really feel about Brett leaving the lab?"

While having dinner with Brett and Carly earlier, Brett told him that he was officially retiring from the lab, and he admit that he was a little surprised, but only because he knew how much the other man loved doing what he did. But then again, putting aside what happened, he could also see him wanting to spend more time with his family, especially that youngest son of his.

Sara took a breath before replying. "I'll admit it will be weird not seeing him in the lab as an employee, but if it is something he needs/wants to do, and him and his family are at peace with it, then who am I to try and stop it, even if I could."

He nodded in understanding before he wrapped his arm around her waist as he smirked. "Now, I guess you'll just have to settle with only one old man roaming the halls at the lab, well when he can come in that is."

With him now being the head of the science department, he couldn't spend that much time at the lab as he did before, at least during the school year.

Even though he was joking with his comment, she took his words to heart and looked at him with a hard look. "No way do I see you as an old man." Grissom was about to open his mouth, but she continued after placing a finger to his lips. "I see you as my husband, the man that I love, no matter how many years pass us by, you got that."

He cleared his throat before nodding with a smile. "Yes, ma'am. Besides, like I've said before, when I'm with you, I feel half my age."

Her look started to turn passionate as she took his hand and lead them towards their bed. "Prove it."

He chuckled as he willingly let her lead him. "Is that a challenge, Mrs. Grissom?"

They stopped just as they reached the side of the bed and she turned around and placed her hands inside his robe so she could touch his bare chest before she ran her hands up and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him as close to her as possible. "What do you think, Dr. Grissom? You up for it?"

His eyes started to become passionate as he whispered. "Challenge accepted."

Their lips touched a second later, and it didn't take them long to get lost in each other's kissing and touching.

When it was all said and done, and they were wrapped in each other's arms with only a sheet covering them, she breathed deeply and kissed his bare chest before whispering. "Challenge completed."

He chuckled lightly, making her close eyes at the feel of the vibrations, before he kissed her head and whispered in return. "I love you."

Now sighing in content as she listened to his heart beat going back to its normal rhythm, she whispered again. "And I love you."

They continued to lay there as the silence came between them, but they didn't seem to mind, they were just content on basking in their closeness, still loving the feel of one another.

* * *

AN: Next chapter you'll see the whole 'family' come together for a special reason, and Grissom asks a surprising question to his wife, what could it be? Find out soon. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	9. A Special day

AN: Thanks for the continued support, here is the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 9: A Special day

July 4th, 2015

"...Now the groom's favorite part." The preacher looked over to his left and smiled at the groom. "You may now kiss your bride."

Nick smiled as he cupped the cheek of his new wife while looking into her beautiful brown eyes.

All those failed relationships, which weren't as many as people might think, and the two that could have beens but weren't meant to be, lead him to this moment, the moment he has been waiting for his whole life, even at one point told himself he would never get to. But that thinking changed the day he met her at a new coffee shop a little over a year ago.

He then moved closer to her before they shared their first kiss as husband and wife.

After they pulled back, he couldn't contain his excitement, so he shouted. "I'm married!"

They all chuckled before Greg, who was standing up as one of his best men, spoke with a smirk. "And it's about time."

Nick looked over at his friend/colleague, and smirked in return. "You're the one to talk, so when is it your turn?"

The younger man smiled shyly as he looked over at Morgan, who was his colleague turned girlfriend three months ago, and she smiled shyly as she looked down, making them all chuckle again as the guests walked up to the newlyweds to give them their personal congratulations before they all sat back down at their tables to enjoy their wonderful meals at the same country club Carly had her reception.

Once the discussion of their wedding date started, they both agreed that having a long engagement didn't appeal to either of them, they just wanted to make sure they would give the people who they had wanted to be at their wedding enough time to get their schedule straight. And regarding the people who they wanted to invite, Diana knew right off the bat that most of the guests on Nick's side lived in Los Angeles and pretty much worked the same shift at the crime lab, so having all of them there wouldn't be plausible unless they got married there, so putting the needs of her fiancé over her own was what she did. Besides, at the end of the day, she didn't really care where she got married, just as long she did to the man she loved like no other.

The new wife's thoughts get interrupted when she felt her husband's lips against her cheek before he whispered.  
"You happy, Mrs. Stokes?"

Diana smiled as she cupped his cheek. "More than happy, Mr. Stokes. I love you."

"I love you too."

As they were going in for a kiss, Warrick, who was Nick's other best man, stood up with the microphone and started with the speeches, which after his, more came throughout the room from the people they cared the most about.

Once the speeches were done, and their food gone from their plates, it was the bride and groom's first dance as husband and wife before the dance floor became open to everybody else, and that's when Carly walked up to the newlyweds and smiled at Nick. "May I have the next dance?"

Diana nodded with a smile. "Sure."

Husband and wife share a kiss on their cheeks then she walked away before Carly and Nick started dancing. "Congratulations again. I'm happy for you."

Nick nodded with a smile. "Thank you, not only for the compliment, but setting all of this up for us."

When Diana finally convinced Nick that Los Angeles is where she wanted the wedding, he called Carly to see if she could help, since she had most of the connections around town.

Carly nodded in return with a smile. "Of course, anything for you, you know that."

Nick just nodded one more time before they continued their dance in silence, and after that dance was done, Nick got his turn with some of the other women in his life, most notable, Sara, Catherine, his mom and his sisters.

* * *

At one point during the reception, while Nick was talking with Greg and Warrick, Diana ended up being surrounded by Sara, Carly, Catherine, Morgan, Brett and Grissom, and Sara had asked how Nick proposed, so Diana, after taking a sip of her champagne, smiled as she retold the events. "Well, it was actually kind of a spur of the moment. You see we were discussing about his job offer for the San Diego crime lab..."

_Flashback_

_A little over a moth ago_

_Nick and Diana were cuddled on his couch drinking a little wine, and she spoke. "So, what have you decided?"_

_Nick sighed. "I can't lie and say that I haven't thought twice about it, but..."_

_He trials off and she smiled as she took his hand. "But you've been in Vegas so long you can't imagine being anywhere else?"_

_He smiled as lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed before replying. "Yes, but there is also you I have to consider."_

_"Nick..."_

_He cuts her off as he removed his hand from hers and turned her head to the side so they could have eye contact as he finished. "I feel like I just found you, and I'm not going to lose you. I can't lose you."_

_Diana watched her man give her a sad look, knowing he's had enough heartbreak in his life, as she took his hand this time and gave it kiss before replying with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to lose you either, but I also don't want you to decline this wonderful job offer because of me. Relationships can get tricky at times, and if it doesn't work out in the long run then I don't want it to become something you reg..."_

_He cuts her off. "Do you want us to work out in the long run?"_

_No hesitation on her part, completely committed to this amazing man. "Of course, but..."_

_Nick cuts her off again while smiling. "So, you're saying you'll only let me consider not accepting this job offer for you, if we are more than just dating."_

_She eyed him suspiciously before nodding. "I guess in theory that would be correct."_

_Nick's smile got wider as his brown eyes sparkled. "Then let's do it."_

_She then raised an eyebrow. "Do what exactly?"_

_"Change the status of our relationship."_

_Her eyes than get wide. "Nick..."_

_He cuts her off one more time as he moved from the couch. "When you retell this story I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for doing it like this, and without a ring no less, but..." Diana gasped while she watched Nick get down on one knee and cupped her cheek. "Diana, I love you, and I can't believe how lucky I am that I found you." He wiped a few tears off her cheek as he continued with emotion. "And now all I want to do is spend the rest of my life with you, create a family with you, so will you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?"_

_Diana sniffled as she asked. "Are you sure this is what you want? That I'm what you want?"_

_Nick nodded with another smile, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."_

_Seeing the absolute truth and love in his eyes, there was only one answer on the tip of her tongue. "Yes."_

_He chuckled. "Yes?'_

_She nodded with more tears going down her cheeks, not able to stop them now. "Yes, I'll marry you, I'll spend my life with you, and most importantly, build a family with you."_

_He wiped away as many as he could before giving up and bringing her to him so they could share a sweet, but passionate kiss, and when they pulled back, he hugged her and whispered. "I love you so much."_

_She sniffled, holding onto him tightly as she whispered. "I love you too."_

_End of Flashback_

Diana's story was interrupted when Sara spoke in shock, which she wasn't alone in that department. "Wait, hold on, Nick had a job offer in San Diego?" She looked around the table and asked. "Did any of you know about this?"

Before they all could respond, Nick spoke as he ran his hand along his new wife's shoulder after he stopped next to her. "Know about what?"

Warrick and Greg looked at the team curiously before Sara asked. "You had a job offer in San Diego?"

Diana looked her new husband shyly. "Sorry babe, I thought they knew about it."

Greg then spoke up, a little more surprised than the others, considering he still works with the guy. "And why didn't I even know about it?"

Now with all of them looking at him in shock, Nick shrugged his shoulders. "It just wasn't that big of a deal."

One of them was about to speak, but Diana did with a smirk. "Babe, being offered the Director of the San Diego crime lab is a big deal."

As they now looked at him with more pride than shock at being offered a Director's position, Nick looked at Diana and spoke from his heart. "I had a better offer on the table that I couldn't turn down." The women, including his new wife, just about swooned at his words before he continued while looking at the rest of his team/extended family. "I was very appreciative and honored about the offer, don't get me wrong. But at the end of the day, I've worked in Vegas for 18 years, and I can't imagine being anywhere else." He then looked at Greg and smirked. "So, sorry man, you'll have to wait on that supervisor's spot that I know you've been eyeing for awhile."

They all chuckled before Greg spoke with a smile. "Hey, as long as you are still there I can wait for as long as I have to."

The women all said 'aww' in a teasing tone, making Greg roll his eyes and mumbled a shut-up before everybody started laughing.

As they were calming down, they could tell there was two people who needed a moment, so everybody left the area until only Nick and Grissom were standing there.

Nick looked at Grissom and cleared his throat, if there was one person he didn't want to let down, outside of his new wife now, it was his ex-boss/mentor. "Griss, I..."

But Grissom cuts him off with a smile as he placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Are you happy, Nicky?"

Nick's eyes lit up like Grissom had never seen before while he nodded. "Yes sir."

"I probably already know the answer to this, considering what we are doing here today, but do you love her?"

Nick cleared his throat again to get the emotion out before replying. "With all my heart."

Grissom nodded in return, seeing the truth before replying. "Then you did the right thing. I've learned that listening to your heart, more times than not, can lead you down the right path."

Nick then smiled again as he asked. "So, I take it you don't regret listening to your heart when you decided to leave Vegas all those years ago?"

Grissom looked to the left to see his wife near the kids area, where the older 'kids' were watching the younger ones before looking at Nick and shaking his head with a smile. "Not for a moment." He then finished after clearing his throat. "You've made me very proud, Nicky, and I couldn't be happier for you, congratulations."

"Thank you, Grissom."

Grissom gave him one more nod with a smile, and after a pat on the shoulder, he headed for the kids, while Nick took a moment to himself, then smiled and started making the rounds of thanking the guests for being there for him on the best day of his life.

* * *

A few hours later

After most of the guests had left the reception, the newlyweds, the team, the kids (younger and the older ones), Brett, Ryan, and Andrea headed for the beach, where they all set up a spot so they could see some fireworks together.

Then once the big/good ones were done, the parents said goodnight to their children before Lindsey, along with Courtney, Martin, BJ, Lindsey's best friends, Nicole and Bryan, and Lindsey's long time boyfriend, Kyle Caine, took the kids to the Brown residence, and not much time passed there before Lindsey and Nicole were putting the younger kids to bed.

Lindsey stood in the doorway to Eli's room, who was sharing it with Rick and Cassandra so the other kids could have a room to sleep in tonight, and while watching her younger siblings sleeping, she had a somewhat sad smile on her face, it seemed like every time she saw them, they were getting bigger each time. They were just growing up too fast, and she was missing it all.

Her moment alone came to an end when Nicole spoke softly. "I got the other kids down."

Lindsey nodded before she slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. "Thank you." As Nicole nodded, waving it off, Lindsey continued with a smirk. "Although, I bet it was nice practice."

Nicole chuckled before replying. "Hey, I'll have you know Bryan and I are still a few years away from that step, thank you very much." Then she smirked with eyes sparkling, wishing for the day that they were. "But, you're right, it was."

Lindsey chuckled lightly as she headed for the stairs, but stopped when Nicole spoke again, this time with a little more serious tone. "Now you be honest with me, you want to move here, don't you?"

Lindsey looked at her best friend with wide-eyes. "Nicole, I..."

She cuts her best friend off. "I can see it when you look at your family, and I get it, believe me, I do." She cleared her throat before she continued. "Don't get me wrong, I love Horatio and Calleigh with all my heart, having them as my parents have been one of the best things that could have happened in my life after my biological parents died, but if I had a chance to spend more time with them, I would, even if it's for a day."

Lindsey looked at her with sadness now. "Yes...no.." She then sighed. "Maybe."

Nicole took her best friend's hand and moved them towards the master bedroom, and after closing the door, Lindsey spoke again as she moved to sit at the end of her parent's bed. "I'm missing so much of my sibling's lives, and after what happened to my dad (Warrick), a part of me wants to be closer to them again, to spend more time with them." Lindsey then looked down at her hands before continuing. "But we both know why I can't just pack up and leave."

Nicole nodded as she sat down next to her on the bed. "Kyle."

"He means everything to me, I loved him for so long, longer than I probably even realized that I did."

Her friend smiled as she placed her hand on Lindsey's hand. "You know he loves you too, and would do anything for you."

"I know that, but I can't ask him to move away from his doctors, and especially you and the rest of his family, you guys are his comfort, and I can't take that away from him."

As much as it would pain Nicole to see her best friend leave Miami, she just wanted her to be happy, and the last few times Lindsey came home from her visits here, it seemed to weigh on her more and more that she wasn't near her family longer periods of time, so she asked. "And what about what you want or need?" Feeling she was in a hard place and not sure at the moment, Lindsey just shrugged her shoulders, and Nicole continued. "If this becomes a more serious decision, you need to talk to him."

Lindsey sighed with a nod. "I know. Thank you for listening to me." As Nicole nodded, Lindsey continued with a smile. "And you know that if I do decide to leave Miami, it would be hard leaving you too, right?"

Nicole nodded with a smile in return. "I know."

She saw the truth in her friend's eyes as they stood up from the bed. "Ok good, because you know I'll never forget that I was friends with you before I became Kyle's girlfriend."

Nicole than finished with a smirk. "Yeah, by how much longer, 5 months?"

Lindsey then chuckled as they stepped out in the hall. "It still counts."

* * *

A few hours later

As the evening was progressing, the couples, even Andrea and Ryan looked to be getting closer throughout the day, were sitting down talking and laughing on the beach. Well, all except Sara and Grissom. Sara was in the beach house, using the restroom, that the newlyweds rented for the weekend/week, while Grissom was standing on the deck watching their extended family with a smile on his face.

A few moments later, Sara's arms wrapped around her husband from behind and she kissed his cheek before whispering. "Whatcha doing?"

He nodded his head towards them. "Watching them, we have gained some kind of family, didn't we?"

Sara chuckled with a nod as she released him so she could stand next to him, but he had other ideas when he slipped his arm around her waist and brought her in front of him so her back was against his chest while she looked at the extended family as well, particularly eyeing Andrea and Ryan, who were in a discussion that was making them smile.

"And I think it's getting a little bigger as we speak."

He kissed her temple before asking. "You got a problem with that?"

She shook her head. "Not one bit, I've always wanted a big, loving family, and it only gets better with them."

After he kissed her temple again there was a short period of silence between them, only hearing the laughing from the group and the waves from the ocean before Grissom spoke again after clearing his throat. "You know I've been thinking."

She responded with a smirk. "You mean more than usual?"

He tickles her side with a smile, making her giggle as she swatted at his hand a few times to make him stop, which he did a few moments later with a smirk before he continued. "Ok Mrs. Smarty pants, yes more than usual, and I believe I have a solution to your problem." He cleared his throat again. "Well, it will only be a temporary fix until you feel you have that same problem again."

Sara turned around in his arms with a raised eyebrow. "And what exactly is my problem, Dr. Grissom?"

He cupped her cheek as he replied. "Feeling like your babies have grown up too fast."

The next second Sara looked at her husband with shock. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

He ran his thumb up and down her cheek as he spoke with emotion and all the love in his eyes that he could, making her heart melt. "What do you say? You want to add another member to this loving family?"

Sara's eyes started to fill up tears as she asked. "You're serious?"

He nodded, also with tears filling up in his eyes. "I am."

For the first several months after Isabella was born, Sara silently told herself that 'two' was the perfect number for them. But honestly, the last few months her thinking started changing in the opposite direction, and that maybe one more wouldn't be too bad. She just didn't know how to bring it up to her husband, because while there were some backhanded comments about it here and there, the sit down, full on discussion about a third child was never brought up, so she assumed he was perfectly fine with just William and Isabella.

She then mentally shook her head as she thought _'that's why you don't assume'_, and when she saw his eyes change to sadness/concerned on why she hadn't answered him yet, she smiled with a nod. "Yes."

His eyes lit up again as he asked. "Yeah?"

She nodded with a chuckle as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's do it." They both chuckled at her wording before she shook her head with another smile. "You know what I mean."

Grissom nodded before cupping her cheek with another smile. "Yeah, and I couldn't be happier. Thank you."

"No need to thank me babe, it will be an honor to give you another child."

He shook his head. "Us."

She moved them closer so their foreheads could touch as she whispered. "Us."

A moment later he moved his lips closer to hers, and when they were a breath away, she whispered again, reminding him on where they were. "Griss, we aren't alone."

Through the years they have been a little more freer on showing the outside world their love for one another, whether it was holding hands, his hand on the small of her back, their arms wrapped around each other's waist or neck, even her sitting on his lap, depending of course on where they were or who they were with, but outside of a few rare/special occasions, kissing wasn't one of their outward affections toward one another in mixed company. It was just something they kept private, in their own little world.

However, the urge to kiss his wife in that moment was just too much to ignore, so he whispered in return. "For the moment I don't care...unless you..."

He was cut off when she pressed her lips against his, happy to kiss her husband anytime/anywhere he felt comfortable with. All he had to do was say the word/give her a sign, because while she did like things private at times, she also had no problem showing the world just how much she was in love with him.

As he kissed her back, even deepening it a little, they could hear the rest of the group cheering, it was a sight they weren't use to seeing, and while the core group of women (Carly & Catherine) enjoyed it a little more than the men, particularly Nick, Greg and Warrick, they all had smiles on their faces, happy that they were still going strong after so many years together.

Eventually Sara and Grissom smiled against one another's lips, and after one more soft kiss, they pulled back, she then took a deep breath and cupped his cheek again. "And you know what I just thought of?"

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "What dear?"

"The kids are over at the Brown residence until morning."

Getting the hint rather quickly, he cleared his throat and shouted to the group. "See you guys, Sara and I are going to head out. Nick, Diana, dinner sometime this week before you leave?"

Nick and Diana smiled with a nod before Nick spoke for them. "Sure."

After Grissom nodded in return, they all shouted bye to one another, and as Sara and Grissom walked inside the beach house so they could get to the front, Greg smirked as he looked at Nick and Diana. "And here I thought you two were suppose to be the ones in the honeymoon phase."

They all chuckled as Nick playfully pushed Greg's shoulder with a smirk.

Once they got to the vehicle, Grissom opened the door for his wife, but before she got in, she cupped his cheek and whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too, honey."

They kiss softly before he helped her get in, and after closing the door, he headed for the driver's side with a smile on his face and a spring in his step.

Yeah, like what his wife thought, at some point he did think 'two' was their perfect number, but lately 'three' was sounding better the more he thought of it, and now he was beyond happy at the prospect of having another child with his beautiful wife. Could life get any better for him, them?

* * *

AN: I hope you all liked the new development. I also want to inform you that the next two chapters will not only be broken down into 2 parts, but they'll be the last in the story. Don't worry though, there will be another one in the series, so I hope you like that as well. Thanks again for reading, and please review.


	10. First day of school Part 1

AN:Thank you for the support, here is the next chapter, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 10: First day of school Part 1

Late August, 2015

Grissom and Sara were cuddling in bed doing a crossword puzzle, while Sara was also petting Max, who had his chin on her hip, enjoying the attention from his older master. Even though he loved William and Isabella, and very protected of them both, he loved Sara and Grissom too, which sometimes he would be found in their room with them, especially when the younger ones were asleep.

Just as that thought came, all the occupants in the room heard the little boy's voice as he ran towards the doorway. "Mommy! Daddy! Guess what!?"

Max's head lifted from Sara's hip while Sara and Grissom looked at their son, who was wearing a CSI t-shirt and sweatpants for his pajamas, and smiled before Sara asked. "What baby?"

The little boy continued with his blue eyes sparkling. "I finally get to go to school!"

They chuckled before Grissom nodded with another smile. "I know buddy, you've been waiting for this moment for a long time, haven't you?"

"Yep, felt like it's been forever."

They chuckled again before Grissom continued. "Alright, why don't you get ready, we have something a little special for you for breakfast."

William's eyes get wide with excitement again. "Ok." Then he looked at Max. "Come on boy! I have to get ready for school, yeah!" Then he was running back to his room while Max rushed to follow his younger master.

A moment later, Sara spoke as she was just about to remove the covers from herself. "Maybe I should..."

But Grissom cuts her off as he placed a hand on her arm. "Honey, he has this. You guys sat out his clothes last night, he knows what he's doing."

Sara nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, I know."

Knowing a part of her was still having a tough time seeing this milestone for their son, even though he also knew she was extremely happy for him, he lightly squeezed her hand before they finished off the last few questions on the crossword puzzle, which by then Isabella had woken up and it was time for themselves to get ready for the day.

When they made it downstairs, they headed for the kitchen to pour themselves a half a cup of coffee, and a few moments later, William, who was dressed in a spider-man t-shirt, blue jeans, Nike shoes, and a red light jacket with a spider-man back pack on, smiled and said. "Ok I'm ready." He lost his smile a second later when he noticed no breakfast was on the table. "Where are the animal pancakes?"

He always got animal pancakes on special occasions, and he thought this was, not only a special occasion but he was also thinking that was his surprise.

Sara took Isabella from Grissom's arms and he walked up to his son before he kneeled down so he was eye-level with him and spoke with a smile. "I know you were expecting them today, and I promise you'll get them tomorrow, but you see everybody wanted to enjoy breakfast with you kids this morning for your guy's big day so we are going out to eat, is that ok?"

William seemed to really think about it before he nodded with a smile. "Ok, but you promise tomorrow?"

"You got it buddy, and there is something else."

Before the little boy could ask, Grissom pulled his phone out, got to his voice mail and hit speaker so William could hear Nick's and Greg's voice alternating throughout the message. "Hey little man (Nick's voice), we are sorry we couldn't be there to see you on your first day of school (Greg's Voice), but we wanted to wish you a good day (Nick's Voice). We hope to hear from you soon, ok? (Greg's voice) Love you little man, bye (Nick and Greg's voice)

As Grissom put his phone back in his pocket, William smiled. "That was cool."

They chuckled before Grissom asked. "So, you ready?"

William nodded again. "Yes please, I don't want to be late."

"You got it."

Grissom stood up before they cleaned up their coffee mugs, then making sure the windows and the back door locked, they said goodbye to Max before the Grissom family walked out of the house.

* * *

At the diner

Not long after the Grissoms arrived at the diner and had set up their area, pushing two long tables together, the rest of the team/group arrived, including Courtney, Martin, BJ, Ryan, Elizabeth, and everybody couldn't help but notice Andrea was there as Ryan's guest, which ever since the Stokes wedding they had been spending more time together, and Sara couldn't help but smile to herself, knowing she recognized their budding romance first while giving herself a small pat on the back since in some way she's the reason they got to know one another a little better, even though the circumstances around that weren't the greatest.

Sara mentally shook her head and diverted her thinking to something else, today was about her son and that's what she wanted to focus on.

Once breakfast was coming to a close, and while Ryan was standing in line so he could take care of his portion of the bill, Carly walked up to her brother and cleared her throat before asking. "So, I've noticed you've been spending a lot of your time with Andrea these days."

Ryan looked at his older sister and smiled. "Yeah, what's it to you?"

She ignored that question and asked. "So you know that she's..."

She trailed off, and Ryan spoke in a whisper, not sure on who knew about it yet. "Pregnant? Yes, I found out pretty quickly and she didn't deny it." They took a few steps closer to the cash register and he continued. "And wait a minute, I thought you like her?"

Carly nodded with a sigh. "I do, she's a nice, smart woman, and a pretty good CSI if you ask me."

"Then what's the problem here?"

"It just feels a little different when someone is involved with a member of my family." Ryan was about to speak again, but she continued before he could. "I don't want to see you, or Elizabeth getting hurt, that's what I'm mostly concerned about in all of this."

He handed the money to the cashier before looking at his sister again. "And you don't have to worry about that, we are taking things slow." Carly was about to speak, but Ryan continued before she could. "Listen, neither one of us is guaranteeing anything right now, but we like each other and want to spend time together to get to know one another, so how is that a bad thing?"

After reaching for his change, they take a few steps to the side so they were out of the way while Carly shook her head. "It's not a bad thing, I just want you to be careful, it's not just you two involved in this, remember that."

"Which you don't have to tell me that, my daughter means everything to me, you know that, and I'll do everything in my power to protect her, no matter what it is."

"Ok, I just wanted to make sure I've said my peace before you two get any deeper."

He then smirked. "It's just you playing the protective sister role part."

Carly smiled as she lightly punched his shoulder. "Always, and don't you ever forget it."

"I won't." Carly nodded with one more smile as she turned around to head towards the group, but stopped when Ryan spoke after he places his hand on her shoulder. "Carly?" She turned around to look at her brother again before he continued after clearing his throat from the emotion he was feeling. "If I never said it before, thank you for moving here. It was the worst time of my life, but having you here helped me more than I could ever say." She was going to speak before he continued with a smirk. "Even though I began to realize that you ending up here wasn't only because of me."

Knowing he was eyeing Brett over her shoulder when he said that, she smiled while cupping his bearded cheek. "I would have even if he hadn't been here, you're my brother and you needed me, so I'm glad I got to help you. I love you."

He brings his sister closer and hugs her while replying softly. "I love you too, sis."

As they were pulling back, they all heard William. "Can we please go now? We have to get to school, we can't be late on our first day."

They all chuckled while Elizabeth, who was also excited for her first day of school, second that. Rick, however was a little nervous, even after hearing a message from his oldest sister earlier that morning, so he wouldn't have minded if he got to stay with his parents, particularly his mom, a little longer.

* * *

After leaving the diner, the large group headed for the campus of the grade school, and after parking, they get out of their vehicles before Eli and Cassandra left the group to go to their friends while William, Rick and Elizabeth were saying goodbye to the extended portion of their families, then when William was near his mother again, she kneeled down and gave him a smile. "OK, this is it, do you need me to walk with you to your classroom?"

Part of her already knew the answer to that, but she still wasn't fully committed on letting her son go just yet.

William shook his head with a smile before he placed a on her shoulder. "Mommy, I'm going to be ok, you don't have to worry so much."

While the ones that just didn't understand, smirked, Sara ignored them as she nodded before she spoke after clearing her throat. "Well, for the record, as your mother, it's my job to worry. But I'll try to worry less, ok?" After he nodded with a smile, she smiled in return, looking at her little boy's face, who reminded her of so much of her husband, then she sighed again. "Ok, give me a kiss and hug then you can go."

He did groan a little as he whispered. "Mommmy!" But he did what she asked, even giving his father and sister a kiss and hug, then after making sure his two best friends were ready, the three of them headed towards the school building as Sara stood up before Grissom placed his free hand on the small of his wife's back.

They look at each other with a smile as they heard a little girl's voice shouting, who had just gotten off the school bus. "William!"

Sara turned her head at the sound of the little girl's voice, and saw William give her a big smile with his blue eyes sparkling while shouting. "Hi Bella!"

As they were watching the other two kids greet the brown haired, brown eyed little girl, Carly asked. "Wait, is that Isabella?"

She never actually seen/met the little girl, but knew about her from not only by Sara, Grissom and William, but Elizabeth as well.

Before Sara or Grissom could respond, a little over a year old, Isabella Grissom pouted and said. "No, me is."

They chuckled before Grissom kissed his brown haired, brown eyed little angel. "Yes you are princess, but there is another little girl who has the same name." Then he looked at Carly and nodded. "And yes that's her."

Carly then raised an eyebrow. "He already has a nickname for her, I see?"

As they watched the now group of four walk into the building, Sara responded with a smile. "It would appear so." Then she turned to look at her team and said with a smirk. "And those of you who had smirked throughout my moment with my son is on decomp duty,...for a week." Before heading towards her vehicle as Harry and Luke groaned while Grissom followed his wife with a smirk on his face, thinking 'that's my amazing wife.'

After Sara and Grissom shared their goodbyes, and Carly and Brett did as well, the day shift team and Catherine headed for the lab while Andrea and Ryan were planning on spending the day together.

* * *

(About an hour before the end of shift)

Sara and Carly were talking about their case in the break room when Sara's phone rang, but not really paying attention on who was calling, she answered in her work way. "Grissom." A few seconds later, her voice changes to worry as she asks. "Is he ok?" Carly then looks at Sara with a raised eyebrow and a concerned look as she listened to Sara's side of the conversation. "Ok...I'll be there, along with my husband...alright, bye."

While she hit the end call button on her phone, Carly asked. "What was that about?"

Sara then looked at Carly and asked with a somewhat worried look on her face. "So, what does it mean when your child's teacher and principle want to speak to their parents?"

Carly looked shocked. "What, seriously?" As Sara nodded Carly continued with a small smile. "It's only his first day and you're already getting called to the principles office."

Sara couldn't help but smirk as she hit speed dial #1. "And I can only imagine what for."

By no means was William a bad child, anybody who meets him could see that right away, so it wasn't only Sara's biased opinion. But he was a very curious child and loved to ask questions, especially when he became comfortable in his surroundings and who he was asking the questions to, so she could have seen a scenario where maybe he kept asking questions and the teacher was ready to move on to a different topic and he wasn't quite ready yet, which kind of made Sara mentally smile as she thought about the day she met her husband, when she wouldn't stop asking him questions, so there was no doubt on who he got that from. Or maybe he said something to a bunch of kids that weren't age appropriate, because while Sara and Grissom were very careful on what they talked about when they are around their children, especially when it is about CSI business, sometimes you just never know what they could end up hearing.

* * *

Grissom was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book while his daughter was eating her small snack in her high chair.

"Here daddy."

Grissom looked up from his book and smiled at Isabella, who was holding out a gold fish cracker towards him. "Oh, is that for me?" She nodded with a smile as her brown eyes sparkled while he said thank you, then after he moved closer to her hand, he opened his mouth and she placed the cracker in before he kissed her hand, making her giggle while she went back to her snack, and as Grissom was swallowing the treat, his phone vibrated on the kitchen table, so he placed his book down, looked at who was calling him before he smiled as he picked up his phone and answered it. "Hello, dear, what can I do for..."

She cuts him off a second later. "We have go down to the school."

Grissom sighed a little before he started to say. "Sara, honey..."

But she cuts him off again, knowing what he might have thought was the reasoning for it. "It isn't that, I got a call from the principle. He, and along with William's teacher, wants to talk to us about something."

A part of him did get worried about that, but another part of him couldn't help but smirk. "So, which one of us is the blame for this?"

Sara shyly smiled, knowing what her husband was referring to, before replying. "Hey now, let's not pass judgment until we know what happened, ok, Dr. Grissom?"

He smirked again. "Ok." Then he cleared his throat and got a little more serious. "I'll call Brett and see if he can watch Isabella for a bit, I'll meet you there."

"Ok, I'll see you soon, love you."

"Love you too."

After Grissom hung up his phone, he stood up and placed it in his pocket before going to the sink to get a wash-cloth, and as he was washing his daughter's hands, he spoke to her with a smile. "Ok princess, how would you like to spend a little time with Andrew?"

Her eyes lit up at the mention of the little boy's name. "Me play wif 'drew?" After Grissom nodded, she continued with a nod and giggle. "Yes, Pease?"

Grissom chuckled back as he picked her up before kissing her cheek. "I'll see what I can do." Before walking them into the living room.

* * *

Once Isabella was dropped off with Brett, who had no problem watching her, Grissom headed for the school, and after meeting Sara in front of the building, they greeted one another with a hug while both of their faces had more concerned looks on them than when they were on the phone earlier.

After they pulled back, they tried to give each other comforting looks before he nodded, she nodded in return before they started walking closer to the building, his hand on the small of her back as they walked through the halls of the school until they ended up in front of the principles office.

They stopped at the closed door and Sara spoke after clearing her throat. "You know this is actually a first for me, being called to the principles office."

Grissom raised an eyebrow at that, surprised on her comment. "Really?"

She looked over at him and asked with a smile, her lips pursing. "Why do you find that so surprising?"

When he replied his eyes spoke with love while his tone held amusement in it. "You can be a fiery woman when you want to be, so when a subject really gets to you I can see you getting into some kind of heated debate with a another student, even a teacher, which might lead you into a bit of hot water."

At this point in their lives together, she really shouldn't be surprised that he knew her so well, but she couldn't help but look at him in awe, then she smirked in a whisper a second later. "Well, I never said I didn't come close to it."

He chuckled with a nod. "There's my girl."

She smiled with love in her eyes at being called that, then she asked. "What about you?" His looked turned to a shy one as he looked down, and she raised an eyebrow this time. "Really? For what?"

Instead of answering her, he cleared his throat before nodding towards the door. "We better get inside and see what this is about."

If they were anywhere else she would have pushed for more information, but he did have a point, so she nodded, and after a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

* * *

AN: Find out what happens next. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	11. First day of school Part 2

Chapter 11: First day of school Part 2

A moment later the voice of the principle was heard. "Come in."

Sara opened the door before her and Grissom stepped in the room, seeing the principle, Mr. Jones, who had an average build, was in his early to mid forties with short black hair and hazel eyes, and William's teacher, Mrs. Davidson, who also had an average build with blue eyes, blond hair that was in a bun, and was in her late thirties to early forties.

Both Mr. Jones and Mrs. Davidson smiled kindly at Sara and Grissom before Mr. Jones spoke as he stood up held out his hand towards them. "Nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Grissom."

They both met him when they were signing William up for school.

After shaking his hand, he started to sit down and spoke. "Please have a seat." Once they did what was asked, he continued. "Before we being I just want to inform you that your son isn't in any kind of trouble, he did nothing wrong."

The tension they had when they walked in the room died down considerable before Sara asked. "Then if you don't mind me asking, why did we get called down here?"

"Mrs. Davidson has more insight on that."

Once their greeting ended, Mrs. Davidson started asking questions. "And if you don't mind me asking what level of education do you and your wife have? And what is your current job."

Grissom took that answer. "I have a PhD in Entomology, and I am head of the science department at UCLA, and formerly I was a supervisor for the Las Vegas Crime lab. And my wife has a Masters degree in Physics, and currently the supervisor for the Los Angeles Crime lab."

Mrs. Davidson smiled with a nod. "Makes absolute sense in this one, I can really see it."

Grissom raised an eyebrow as he asked. "Can you explain what this has to do with our son?"

Mrs. Davidson nodded. "Of course." She took a second before continuing. "I've been doing this job for almost 15 years now, and within that time I've seen some surprises, some good and some bad, but in all my years of teaching, I don't think I've ever been this surprised about a first year student before." They now looked at her with curiosity as she continued. "When they come into my classroom for the first time, I don't expect them to know a whole lot, maybe at least a little grasp on the basics, but your son has the basics, and then some, pat down."

They looked at them a little shocked before Sara asked. "What exactly are you saying, Mrs. Davidson?"

Mrs. Davidson looked at Sara and replied with another smile. "What I'm saying Mrs. Grissom is that within the next month, or two, your son will become board, so I think it would be in his best interest if he gets moved up a grade, possible two."

They gasped in shock before Grissom asked this time. "And you're sure about this?"

Mrs. Davidson and Mr. Jones looked at one another before Mrs. Davidson answers him with another nod. "I would like to give him a placement test to see for sure, but I have no doubts about this one, he's an exceptional little boy."

Sara and Grissom smiled shyly, which in turn made the principle and teacher smile because they've seen a lot of arrogant parents during their time at this school, and the reaction to the news they just given the Grissoms would have been completely different if it had been any of those other parents.

Sara then spoke after clearing her throat. "Well, we always thought that, but you know the whole parent bias thing."

They all chuckled before Mrs. Davidson spoke again. "I understand, but he really is. I even noticed him helping out the two students who sit next to him, I see some type of teacher in him."

Which admittedly she was going to reprimand him when she first saw it happen, but while watching him as he was actually showing them how to do the problem rather than just telling them the answer, something inside her told her not to and just let it play out, which in the end she was glad she did.

This time it was just Grissom who shyly smiled at the praise, making Sara reach for his hand and squeezed before she started speaking. "I do have one thing to ask, you see my son has two best friends..."

Mrs. Davidson cuts her off. "Rick Brown and Elizabeth Hughes, I've noticed. I've also noticed a third one around them a lot through out the day, Isabella Adams."

Sara nodded. "Yes, well, they are really close and if he does end up moving up a grade or two, it would really disappoint him if they don't get to..."

Mrs. Davidson cuts her off again, knowing where Sara was going with this. "We'll make sure their recess time is on the same schedule."

Both Sara and Grissom smiled as Sara continued in a sincere tone. "Thank you, and I don't want you to think that I'm one of those parents who expect or demand special treatment for their kids, I..."

Mr. Jones speaks again for the first time in awhile. "And I don't believe that you are. I've seen worse, believe me."

After another nod, they set up the best time William could take the test before handshakes were given out and Sara and Grissom left the office before they headed for the exit of the building, which when they got out there, the buses, and a few early bird parents, were waiting for when the students were free to leave.

Sara and Grissom was about halfway from the door and parking lot when they stopped walking and looked at each other with beaming smiles before Sara said. "Wow, did you have any idea?"

He shook his head. "None." He then paused for a few seconds before he continued. "Well, I take that back, maybe now that I think about it there have been some flashes of how bright he could be, but I had no idea that..."

Sara cuts him off with a smirk. "That we created a genius." He started chuckling, and after a few moments of the smile on their faces, Sara sighed before she continued. "I just don't want him to be pressured that he has to get certain grades now."

Grissom shook his head as he cupped her cheek. "And he won't, we still just want him to do his best, right?" After Sara nodded, he continued. "Which is what we'll keep telling him. Nothing has changed."

"Except that his world could get a little or a lot bigger, depending on his test."

Understanding the full picture his wife was painting, he smiled with eyes bright. "I think he can handle it."

Sara asked with a smile, knowing her husband got her full meaning. "How can you be so sure?"

He then smirked. "Because one sight of that Sidle temper they won't be messing with him anymore."

She chuckled as she lightly hits his shoulder. "You're bad."

He ran his thumb up and down her cheek as he whispered. "Yeah, but you still love me."

She took a breath before replying with her eyes shinning. "With all my heart and soul."

They were almost in a full blown trance but it was broken when the bell rung, indicating school was over, so Sara cleared her throat and said. "How about taking the kids for some ice cream? I'll call the other parents to make sure it's ok."

"Ok."

She gives him a little smile and moves closer to the sidewalk as she pulled out her phone so she could call Catherine and Ryan while Grissom watched his wife, his heart once again feeling up with all the love he had for her.

His moment of looking at his wife was interrupted moments later when he heard. "Daddy is that you?" Grissom turned his head to the other side at the sound of his son's voice and smiled as he saw his son rushing up to him, and once he was near, William asked with curiosity. "What are you doing here?"

Not telling him the whole truth, he replied. "Well, it's your first day of school and I thought I would make it more special for you if we come pick you up."

"We?" Before Grissom could reply, William saw his mother walking up to them, and he smiled. "Mommy."

Sara smiled as she stopped next to her husband. "Hi baby, how would you like to have ice cream?"

"Yeah, can Rick and Elizabeth come?"

Rick and Elizabeth, joined by Isabella, stopped next to William as Sara nodded. "Yes, I just talked to their parents."

Rick and Elizabeth smiled while William asked. "What about Bella?"

Before Sara or Grissom could speak, the little girl shook her head politely. "I can't William, I have to go right home."

"Ok but some other time, right mommy, daddy?"

Grissom smiled with a nod. "You are welcome to anytime, Isabella."

She nodded with a smile. "Thank you Mr. Grissom, Mrs. Grissom."

After Sara nodded in reply, Bella said goodbye to everybody before rushing towards her school bus.

It was the five of them for a little bit longer until Eli and Cassandra walked up to them and Cassandra asked. "What's going on? Is everything ok?"

The grown-ups smiled with a nod before Sara said. "Since it's your first day of school we thought we could come and pick you guys up so we can have some ice cream, so what do you say?"

Eli then replied. "Like I could ever say no to ice cream."

Grissom then replied. "Alright, let's get out of here then."

The kids all cheered as they headed for the vehicles.

* * *

Later that night

After dinner was done and the dishes in the dishwasher, the Grissom family retreated to the living room, and while Sara was sitting on the couch reading a book, Isabella was in her playpen playing with her toys while watching the movie her parents had set up, William was sitting on the floor at the coffee table coloring, and Grissom was sitting in a chair at the chess table. It doesn't get used as much as he would like or had in the past, but he still liked to study the board and move the pieces in his mind.

Then before he knew it he saw a chess piece move so he followed the hand that moved it, up to the blue eyes of his son, and he asked with a raised eyebrow. "You sure?"

Sara looked up from her book as she watched her son sit across from his father so he could play his father's favorite board game.

A few hours later, and after Grissom and William kissed Isabella for bed time, Sara got her ready and read her to sleep, then about another 30 minutes after that, Sara told her son it was time to get ready for bed.

William nodded before replying while looking at the chess board. "In a minute, please." Before Sara could open her mouth to say that was ok, William moved his chess piece, smiled at his father and said. "Checkmate, daddy." Then he got up from his chair and headed upstairs, leaving a shocked Grissom behind, who was looking at the chess board in awe.

Sara looked from the chess board to her husband with her lips pursed. "I don't know why you look so surprised, seeing as you let him win."

Grissom shook his head a second later before looking at his wife. "I didn't." When she looked at him with doubt, he continued. "Honestly, honey, I didn't." He then smirked. "You must have been giving him lessons behind my back."

She shook her head and held up her hands. "It wasn't me...are you sure that you haven't..."

Grissom shook his head. "Not a single lesson."

They looked at one another with curiosity and a little bit of awe, then after taking his glasses off and setting them on the board he gets up before they headed upstairs, finding their son in the bathroom getting ready to bush his teeth.

Grissom spoke after clearing his throat. "Hey buddy, can your mom and I speak to you for a minute?" William turned around on his step stool and nodded before Grissom asked. "Has anybody taught you how to play chess?"

William shook his head. "Nope."

"Then how did you know what to do?"

He smiled as he replied with excitement. "I watched you and mommy play."

Sara and Grissom looked at one another and he said. "The last we played was what, two weeks ago?"

Sara nodded. "That sounds about right."

They look at their son again before Grissom asked. "And you remember the moves?"

"Yep, I just did the opposite of what mommy did."

Like most of the times she plays her husband, he was the that would win, and the last time they played was no exception.

Grissom smirked a little while Sara spoke sarcastically. "Thanks baby."

William started to nod with a smile, but lost it a second later and got a little sad. "Did I do something wrong, I'm so..."

Grissom cuts him off as walked up towards his son and cupped his cheek. "No, buddy you did nothing wrong, we were just curious on how you knew how to play. How come you never asked to play before?"

His son countered. "How come you never asked me to?"

Grissom chuckled before replying. "Good point, I guess I just didn't want you to feel like I was forcing you to play something you didn't really want to. Chess isn't everybody's cup of tea."

"Well I liked playing, can we do it again...I'll let you win next time."

They both chuckled again before Grissom shook his head. "Yes we can play again, and no, I don't want you to let me win. If I give you all I got, I want you to do the same, deal?"

"Deal, can I brush my teeth now?"

Grissom nodded as he removed his hand and stepped back before William turned around and started brushing his teeth.

As he was finishing up, Sara asks. "Is there anything else you've been holding back from us?" This time William got a little nervous as he bit his lip, and Sara spoke with comfort as she took his hand. "It's ok baby, what is it?"

After another moment of hesitation, he told them. "I've read all my books about 5 times."

While his collection of books weren't that big or at a high reading level, they were still impressed with what he said, and she asked. "How come you never told us or acted like you needed help with some of the words?"

William started to have tears in his eyes as he replied softly. "I know how much you and daddy love to read to me, I didn't want to make you sad."

Grissom kneeled down next to his wife as he replied with a smile. "Yes, we love reading to you buddy, but we don't want you to hold back because of us, on anything. Ok?"

Seeing the acceptance from his parents, he nodded with a smile before Sara spoke again. "I'll tell you what, we'll get you some new sets of books and we can take turns reading them together during bed time, alright?"

He nodded again. "Ok mommy, can you get some mysteries? I like solving the puzzles. Oh, and I love to read about insects too."

They chuckled while Sara brought her son into her arms. "You got it, and you are definitely our child."

Once mother and son pulled apart the parents stood up before the three of them headed to the little boy's bedroom, and as they were tucking him in, Grissom spoke after clearing his throat. "Buddy there is one more thing we have to talk about."

William waited patiently until Grissom started to tell him that he'll be taking a test to see what grade he could be moved up to, and once he was done, William asked softly. "Do I have to?"

Sara moves around William's bed and sits down on the other side of it, close to her son and placed a hand on her son's arm and tried to comfort him the best she could, then finished. "I promise sweetie in the long run this is a good thing, you know I only want the best for you, right?"

William felt a little better after his mom explained the positives about moving up a grade or two, but there was one thing he didn't want to be without. "Yes I do, but do you promise I get to play with my friends when we get to go out and play?"

Sara smiled with a nod. "Yes, the principle even confirmed it, you'll get to still be with your friends during recess time."

William then nodded, seeing the truth in her eyes. "Ok, I'll take the test."

Grissom then spoke after squeezing his son's other hand. "And with the test we just want you to try your best, ok."

William nodded again, smiling at his father. "I will."

Both parents smiled before Sara asked. "Do you want to read tonight?"

A yawn came through a second later before William responded. "Can I just go to sleep?"

Sara nodded. "No problem, I think today has been an exciting day for all of us."

Both parents kissed their son goodnight and whispered their love to him, and after getting up from the bed, they headed towards the door, turning the light switch off when they were near it, making the baseball night light turn on, then after watching their son move on to his side with his teddy bear as Max jumped up on the end of his bed, curling up so his chin was on his tail, they smiled before walking out of the room, closing the door slightly so Max was free to get out when he wanted to before they smiled at one another, taking each other's hand and heading towards their room so they could get ready for bed, beyond happy for how the day went.

* * *

Once Sara and Grissom were ready for bed, Grissom went back downstairs to get his glasses, lock up the house and turn out any lights that were on, and when he walked back into the master bedroom, he saw Sara sitting up in bed, and when she saw him, she said. "Well, I know you didn't get sent to the principles office because of fighting."

Grissom chuckled, remembering their conversation before they stepped into the principles office at their son's school, before he replied as he closed the door slightly. "You are still thinking about that?"

Sara smirked as she turned on her lamp before Grissom turned the main light out. "It's all about that puzzle, and me finding every piece, babe, remember?"

Also remembering that conversation almost 11 years ago, he stopped at his side of the bed and looked at her with love. "Of course honey."

She gave him a little nod and continued with her thinking while he got in bed and placed the covers over his waist. "I mean I can't even see an older Gilbert getting into fights, so I know it wasn't that."

Grissom cleared his throat as he whispered. "How could I get into fights when I was considered a ghost in school?"

Sara took her husband's hand and replied with love. "I'm sorry babe."

He waved it off as he slipped his fingers through hers. "It's ok honey, it was a long time ago, and it was mostly my choice on being away from other people. I wasn't exactly a social butterfly during that time, at least at school."

She then smirked. "Well, you definitely came along way there."

He smiled in return as he moved closer to her. "Most definitely." After they softly kiss a few times, he answered her musings. "And you're right, it wasn't because of fighting."

They kiss one more time, and as they were pulling back, she opened her eyes while continuing. "Let me see, it couldn't be letting animals free in science class, you would be leading the charge to dissect them." Grissom chuckled a little, giving her a look that told her she wasn't wrong in that, then she asked a question that could have been considered weird to any one else, but to him it was a CSI doing her job. "Where did you mostly like to sit in the classroom?"

"Left side, next to the window, more than likely in the middle seat."

That seemed to hit a nerve and she nodded with a smile. "I got it, little Gilbert Grissom being distracted while looking out the window. I could see him watching a butterfly, a bird or anything else that could have been near or on the window and your attention left the teacher for as long as it took him to figure out what it was and the characteristics of it, and I'm guessing some teachers weren't very amused by it."

Grissom turned his head and looked down a little shyly. "Maybe."

Sara chuckled as she moved so she was straddling his waist. "My big scientist man, through and through, and I only find you more attractive."

He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist and asked. "Yeah?"

"Oh yeah, I love who you are, especially that beautiful mind of yours." She then started to have tears in her eyes. "Which I'm seeing that a lot in our son everyday, so thank you for him, and for our little girl."

He cleared his throat before replying with emotion. "I want to thank you for them too, I never thought I could get this lucky."

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, whispering against his skin. "Neither did it, babe. That's what makes us a perfect match."

She pulls back, they share a smile, and he finished. "And I love you, and your beautiful mind."

They share one more smile before their lips touch in a loving kiss, more excited than ever before on where their journey together was taking them now.

* * *

AN: Hope overall you enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading, and please review.

*Another story to the series will be added sometime this weekend, so hope you looking forward to it. In the mean time try to have enjoy the rest of you week, and always remember GSR4ever!


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